Never Alone - Part One: Finding Your Piece
by KallenTheNightSwan
Summary: It's been years and the teens are now young adults and they start to realize change is inevitable; but it's not all bad. Robin and Star realized they don't quite fit, RedX is an ally and BB is wiser than he seems. Part One is centered on Robin, as he finds what he didn't know he was searching for; a shadow. Meanwhile, Raven is starting to notice a certain changeling. Mild BBxRae
1. Chapter 1

**Please Read Author's Note:**

I_ do not own the Teen Titans._

**The premise for this story is as follows…**

RedX is now on relatively pleasant terms with the Titans. They are not the 'best of friends,' but they get along fine.

Starfire however has been increasingly spending more time with RedX; realizing he is a strong and stable character like Robin, but also is very affectionate and attentive, something she had realized was missing before.

**Ages:**

18-23

**Please enjoy!** PM me if you have any questions. I wasn't entirely certain where to start this story, so please endure for now: I promise the bulk of the tale is very good.

* **Current Followers for GotG Fanfic:**

This was something on that has been rolling around in my head for awhile, and I decided while I was struggling on how to appropriately finish the end of the latest chapter for _**Rocket Meets His**_** Match**, I would still get my creative juices going. Now that I have had a break, I think I know what I'm going to do.

**Thank you,**

\- Kallen

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Titans, GO!"

The fight was on, again. This time, Mumbo Jumbo decided to pull another of his ridiculously convoluted bank robberies; and on their movie night no less!

Beast Boy was especially disappointed by this event, as it has been awhile since the team all hung out together.

Cy had been busy with rebuilding his "baby" after it was totaled by none other than Gizmo, Starfire was out with a newly-found friend to the Titans; Red X.

Raven had started some new novel series and finally Robin…

Well, he was doing whatever leaders do he supposed. Brooding?

Probably.

His thoughts were cut short as an animated light post knocked him into an airborne Starfire, sending them both crashing into the park across the street.

The hooded goth and robotic teen looked at each before simultaneously charging a hoard of stop signs, postal boxes and a telephone booth.

Maneuvering through the animated street objects and flying garbage cans, the infamous Boy Wonder was able to sneak up behind the loony magician, expertly kicking his wand out of his grasp and ripping the stupid hat from his bald head.

As he landed he turned around and smirked at the old man, now without his magic items.

"Show's over Mumbo."

Sirens sounded in the distance as the police came onto the scene. In the background, a mumble of "dude, that was so cheesy!" from a ruffled Beast Boy and a giggle from the red-headed princess could be heard as the group of friends decided to get some pizza on their way home.

* * *

"You've got a twig in your hair."

"…what?"

With her dark magic, Raven 'assisted' Beast Boy by (not so carefully) yanking the twig and leaves still tangled in his grassy locks.

"AAAAHHH! What the heck Raven!?" Beast Boy shouted, holding his precious head and trying to feel through his unruly hair.

"It was bugging me." Raven answers in her usual deadpan, monotonous voice. He paused and regarded the girl for a moment before smiling slightly and walking out of the common room without another comment.

Just as Beast Boy exited the a few minutes pass before the doors swish open again, revealing Cyborg and Starfire chatting happily about some food show.

"Hey Rae! Down for Scary Movie 4 tonight?!" Cy's booming voice filled the room.

"-ven." She added under her breath irritably before he continued, "Have you seen BB? I haven't kicked his ass on the game station for nearly two weeks!" He laughed as Starfire giggled, floating over to the barstools by the counter, "friend Robin may wish to play the 'video games' with you friend Cyborg!"

"Yea, get him out of his stupid room." Raven added irritably, inside just wishing that he'd _leave_ so she could finish her book in peace. The atmosphere was pleasant and she didn't feel like moving.

Besides, she wanted to talk to Robin about something. Having help getting him to emerge from his cave would be beneficial.

"Yea, what has been up his butt lately? I mean, the guy was never overtly social, but he's been more of a recluse than usual." Cy grumbled, throwing himself down on the couch.

Raven paused in her reading and turned to regard her friends as Starfire continued the conversation.

"There definitely has been a feeling of melancholy among some of our comrades lately…"

"You could say that again –"

"Say what again?" The doors swished open as Robin casually strolled into the kitchen area to make himself a cup of coffee.

"Hey man! Where've ya been? You kinda disappeared after pizza!"

"Yes! The mustard and mint pizza was especially satisfying tonight!" Starfire added, her hands in the air conveying her enthusiasm.

Not raising his gaze from his task, Robin replied, "That's nice Starfire, but I just wanted to get back to work."

Curiosity getting the better of her, Raven made her way to the kitchen, and into the conversation. "Why not relax? You stay in your rooms more than I do."

"Yea man! And this is _Raven_ talking! What's going on?"

Thinking quickly, Robin turned around and smiled wryly. "Just wanted to clear out some junk and organize some old criminal files and records I had laying around in the recon room."

Starfire gasped gently, "Why, friend Robin! We would have helped you had you informed us! Is there more to go through? I will be happy to offer –"

"No Star, it's fine." He interrupted, and at seeing her deflate he quickly added, "Thank you though. But really, I'm pretty much done."

Everyone was silent as he made is way out the way he came in. He paused and turned to regard his friends, "care to try for a movie night tomorrow?"

"Sure man, see ya around." Cy responded quickly, trying to figure out what was up with his friend. The doors swished closed and there was silence before they collectively sighed in defeat.

"Is it just me, or does friend Robin seem… dumped in the down?"

"Down in the dumps." Raven corrected before answering, "I believe so. His aura has been a little muted lately, but he could just need some time alone. Everyone goes through phases."

"Yea but he should talk to us! We are his friends! Remember the _last_ time this happened-"

Folding her arms across her chest and leaning her hip against the counter, Raven cuts him off, "No. It's not the same."

"What are you _talking _about? It is exactly the same! He hides, obsesses, keeps secrets and then all of the sudden we are learning about some secret plan he's wrapped himself up in, and we are non the wiser!" Cyborg argued, getting frustrated and restless with the situation.

Raising her voice, Raven tries again, "It is _not._ Empathy, remember?" She points to her hooded head. "That time Robin was irritable, moody and stressed out – "

"Friend Raven is correct. He is not any of those things, he almost seems…sad?"

Raven nods, both girls watching Cyborg. After re-thinking it over, he heaves a heavy sigh. "Okay… perhaps you are right. But he should still talk to us – "

"He might just not be ready to share with us," Beast Boy added as he reentered the space, taking a seat next to Star at the counter after pouring himself a cup of coffee, "Or no one has bothered to ask." He muttered sullenly before taking a sip from his cup. Raven raised an eyebrow at this, and filed this behavior away to analyze later. Right now Robin was her focus.

There was a heavy silence in the kitchen as the four friends brooded.

"_Has_ anyone asked?"

"Of course we have asked BB, heck, we just asked him like ten minutes ago. He deflected." Cybord replied, deflated; though the frustration was starting to seep back into his voice.

Beast Boy, leaning his chin on his hand deadpanned, "Did you put him on the spot?"

Everyone looked at their green friend with mild surprise, Beast Boy sighed and stood up with his fresh coffee in hand, "Look. No one likes being put on the spot like that. Most people, especially Robin, wouldn't feel comfortable talking about anything personal and would get defensive or try to evade."

"So you're saying we go to him individually? But who?"

"I believe Raven was going to do something along those lines. Just give him some space."

"But friend Robin –"

Beast Boy turns and gives his friend a gentle look, pleading with her to understand, "I know you care Star… but the best thing to do now is not draw attention on it. See how his talk with Raven goes."

Cyborg scratches his head, "That was… uuuhh… some good advice, BB…" Beast Boy just raises an eyebrow in response, sipping from his mug of coffee.

Raven for the moment is in a loss for words.

"Friends?"

Everyone turned to regard their redheaded teammate before she continued, "do you think this could… that this could be –" she muttered nervously, chocking on the tears building up in her sparkling emerald eyes.

"-No Starfire. This is not your fault." Starfire sniffed and looked up from her folded hands to her cloaked friend in dark blue.

"Now, whether or not this has anything to do with you dating Red – I do not know." Starfire stifled a sob as Raven continued softly.

"You both were drifting away from the romantic relationship, and had ended it a while before Red became our friend and you two started dating –"

"But there could still be some residual feelings there that Robin needs to work through." Beast Boy finished sagely, surprising the purple-haired girl once again.

"I think BB might be right." Cy patted Starfire on the shoulder, "Don't worry so much about it Star, Robin's a strong guy, if this is what's eating him, he'll work his way through it."

"But just to be safe, respect his space and privacy for now, yea Star?" Beast Boy added gently, placing a light hand over Star's, giving her a tentative smile. She nodded and sniffled before rising, causing Beast Boy to pull back.

"I will be going to my room now. Thank you friends, and please help friend Robin."

"We will Star." Cyborg promised firmly as Starfire gave a watery smile and floated out of the common area towards her quarters.

"Damn… I can't believe I just said that…"

"Said what?" Raven inquired. Beast Boy looking at him expectantly for the explanation.

"That BB was right."

Cyborg snickers after BB playfully jostles him in his seat with a hit to the shoulder as he walks by.

They all wordlessly decide it's to retire as well, hoping the morning will be a little brighter.

* * *

It was about 2am, and Robin was still awake. This wasn't necessarily unusual.

However, the infamous Boy Wonder was not in the lab, workout or evidence rooms like everyone would assume. Instead, he was lying on his mattress, arms behind his head and staring out at the starlit sky brooding, the light illuminating his slight athletic build.

Then there was a knock on his door.

Sighing, he pulls himself to his feet and drags them across the room to let Raven in.

He has been expecting her to interrogate him about his mood for a few days now, realizing that he hasn't even bothered to muster up much energy anymore; even in missions he was starting to lack his usual zest for battle.

"Hey."

"Hi." A gruff, female voice responds from the darkness of the hallway.

Robin walks away from the door over to his desk where he pulls out a chair, sitting on it backwards – Raven already making herself comfortable floating in a lotus position just above his queen-sized mattress.

Off and on since the incident as 'Slade's apprentice,' this has been somewhat of a biannual routine for them, though it has been close to a year since the last time they had one of their late night chats.

Silence fills the room for a few long seconds before Raven broke the silence, "I am not going to ask if you are okay."

Robin raises an eyebrow as Raven sighs and takes off her hood, leveling Robin with a stern stare, "Something is wrong, though it's not any of the usual things." She pauses to watch closely for Robin's reactions, but he just sits there calmly, gaze dropping to his hands.

"It's different."

Robin looks back up at her before sighing and rubbing a hand through his hair, getting his fingers stuck a little from the gel that he didn't wash out yet, "I don't know what to tell you Raven."

"Look, I understand if you are upset about Star and –"

He interrupts her with a sigh and a shake of his head, "No. This isn't about what happened with Starfire, though I don't really know RedX very well, I don't have anything major against him –"

"But it still must be hard to see him with her."

Robin gives Raven a wry smile, "Not in the way you think." Raven says nothing, just raises an eyebrow.

Preparing himself to give an explanation (because he knows Raven won't leave without one), he stands and flips the chair around, moving it slightly closer to Raven. He wanted her to try to understand now, because he was damned if he had to try and explain shit again.

A deep breath, then he starts as he stares at his folded hands, resting his elbows on his knees, "To wrap it all up, I guess I just feel a little lost. It's nothing to do with Starfire… well… not completely." He looks up at Raven and rolls his eyes.

"I'm frustrated because I can't see any reason not to be in love with Starfire."

A light goes on in Raven's head, she tries to work it out, "So you are unsure if 'letting her go,' was the right choice? But you wanted to be sure she wasn't getting too attached if there was a chance the emotions didn't grow from there?"

Robin sighs and hangs his head, "Just about." He raises his head again and levels his stare outside his window, just past his friend's left arm.

"I guess I feel that I should be feeling differently? But I know it's a bit ridiculous. Overall, though – " Now he meets Raven's eyes.

"I just don't think it was meant to be."

There is a moments' silence as Raven continues to watch Robin as he hangs his head and tries to stifle a yawn. Exhaustion pulls at his face, but he doesn't tell her to leave. He never tells her to leave, because he knows she'll leave when she gets what she came for.

"But you still feel alone."

Robin's minor fidgeting stops, then a small, pessimistic smile flashes in the shadows of his face, poorly concealing the slight pain that statement brought him.

He hated these things; being forced through his subconscious and stuck like a neon sign at the forefront of his mind by the empath.

But he knew it was for the best… he thinks.

Either way he's going to get it, so it doesn't matter.

"Yea."

"I see." Now Raven is the one looking down at her lap, allowing a pause before she continues, "It seems we both have a similar problem, and we should be able to help each other, understand each other… because we are both missing that piece but -"

"But it just doesn't fit."

"Right."

Robin now looks at Raven and allows himself to give a small smile, "You shouldn't have to come and do this, Raven."

Ignoring her friend's comment, she moves to stand, straightening her cloak.

"No, but this isn't just a one-way thing."

Robin shoots her a confused look.

She sighs, "We both feel loneliness. Even though we can't help each other, we understand each other's pain." She looks at Robin and he nods.

"And that's enough for me."

"Me too."

Raven's footsteps move swiftly across the floor of his room to the door.

"Hey Raven."

She turns back to her raven-haired friend.

"I don't think your missing piece is missing at all."

Eyes narrowing in confusion, silently demanding Robin explain himself.

"I just don't think you see it yet."

Raven just stares at Robin for a few more seconds before leaving his room, the door sliding shut and locking behind her.

* * *

**AN:**

**I hope you like the start!**

**FYI, this story, until I get further ahead in my other fanfic, will be updated less frequently. Like maybe once or twice a week.**

**Much Love!**

**Kallen**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Waking up was never a problem for Robin, but lately it just seemed more difficult to roll out of the bed he couldn't sleep in.

_"__Damn. I overslept again."_

Rubbing lazily at his eyes underneath his mask, he trudges to his private bathroom to shower.

Warm water works its way through the pipes and through the faucet as he turns on the shower and steps in, only taking of his mask once the curtains were closed.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Robin rubs between his eyes, keeping them closed as he stands under the spray for a few moments before replacing his mask.

He didn't want to step out and see how terrible he looked, already feeling the bags under his eyes; a result of the past few nights. Not that he ever slept well to begin with, but even relentless exercising and cardio laps haven't been able to put him down lately.

No way was he going back on those pills again.

He huffs to himself as he gathers some shampoo and works it into his wet and sticky ebony locks. Carefully kneading his head, working in the soap and massaging away the hung over feeling only alcohol and a restless night can give you.

Just like everyone else, Robin begins to slip back into his mind as he goes through his shower routine.

No matter how hard he seemed to try, it never felt like it was enough, and this frustrated him.

Usually whenever he would start to feel the tug of depression, it would be washed away or overshadowed by distraction: missions, friends, Slade, pizza, research, and videogames. The list could go on.

Something that never failed was his passion for justice and doing his job.

But now even that wasn't working.

What was once a passing, nagging feeling turned into something tangible; something incapable of being ignored.

Pity. That was how Robin preferred to handle these things.

He sighs as he reaches for the body wash.

_"__I really need to stop the sighing. S'not like it helps."_

This whole feeling was like a pit. He knows how to get out, but he doesn't have his utility belt. He'd naked and in a twenty foot deep hole. The only object he has is a damn shovel.

Seeing the light, seeing the grass peaking from the edges of his prison –

Yet there was nothing he could do to get out.

He knew that his dream last night was giving him a definition for his current feeling, and that it was just trying to be helpful…

_"__So why does it feel like my mind is taunting me."_

Worst thing too is he felt a presence watching his dream.

"Freaking Raven." He grumbles angrily. Even knowing she was only concerned and wanted to understand his pain by peeking at his subconscious thoughts it was overkill. Not to mention a complete invasion of privacy.

_"__You screw up real bad once, and you lose the trust your team has in you."_

"Five years… and they still don't trust me not to leave them."

If Raven still had that hesitation; there's no doubt that they all did. He scared his friendships with a branded iron for life.

Robin turns off the tap as the water starts to run cold. He allows himself to stand there for a moment and just breathe. Collecting himself.

He chuckles.

"Beast Boy's going to be pissed I used all the hot water again."

* * *

Meanwhile -

Beast Boy had about two minutes of lukewarm water before it turned to ice. Biting his tongue he rapidly scrubbed at his hair and his body before nearly tripping out of the shower.

"Tch. Robin, I get you're upset, but stop using up all the hot water." Beast Boy grumbled to himself as he dried himself quickly with his towel. His sharp ears had picked up the lack-luster chuckle from Robin's bathroom, mere seconds before the ice-water attack.

They have been neighbors for the past year, and their bathrooms were on the same wall _and regardless_ of the fact that the rooms were _supposed_ to be sound-proof… his near perfect hearing could still pick up certain things if he pays attention.

Like some jerk laughing next-door, knowing of his icy demise.

But, as usual these past few months – he allows his leader some slack.

Though in the beginning he did make a note (quite a few times) about the water issue.

Contrary to what everyone else has noticed this past month, Beast Boy has been aware of Robin's sleepless nights for awhile; sometimes hearing him mumble loudly, or yell out in his sleep.

He shakes his head and allows himself a smile as he pulls on his favorite sweatpants over his purple boxer shorts, walking to his large window and pulling the curtains aside.

_"__Raven talked to him last night. Hopefully it helped."_

Ignoring the sounds of Robin getting dressed, he walks into the small sitting space and drops himself on the small couch, leaning his head back against the seat. Enjoying the silence. Idly thinking to his self that they aren't the only two struggling with the feeling.

But it hasn't consumed him yet. He has made his peace with that already.

Having someone to love, even if from afar, is enough to appease him.

Smiling, he allows the silence to pull him back into a light sleep.

* * *

Raven is in the kitchen, just about to take a sip of her precious herbal tea, the alarm goes off throughout the tower.

"Damn."

Cyborg is the first through the doors to the common room, followed closely by Starfire and Robin. Beast Boy is last, adjusting his gloves – his shoes currently untied.

Alright team, let's see what the mayor needs.

Robin pulls up the large screen as the Titans gather, Raven trying to stifle a yawn, and Robin straining to put on his 'hero business face,' as they had all deemed it.

The others stand by silently as they see the mayor's face appear.

Seemed like they would be scouting the woods by Jump City later tonight do to a supposed threat.

* * *

**AN:**

**I apologize for the short chapter, but I felt that the jump to the next scene (and its significance) warranted it having its own chapter.**

**Also, I decided to weed out what would have been filler content. You have all the information you need for me to get the ball rolling on this one.**

**Next update won't be until October.**

**Hope to see you then!**

**Reviews are welcome but not necessary (though I love to hear your thoughts and get your PMs!)**

**Later Days, **

**\- Kallen**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Alright. Can someone tell me how we got into this mess?"

What was supposed to be a relatively simple mission (for the Titans), ended up turning into one giant web of convoluted screw-ups.

They hadn't anticipated this much chaos seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Somehow, thanks to a series of events, Beast Boy was out cold, Raven and Starfire were overtasked trying to hold off a swarm of what looked like mechanical flying ninjas, swinging their weapons carelessly, Cyborg was in an intense one-on-one with some giant super-sumo wrestler and Robin –

Well Robin was bound to some stupid tree, sans utility belt. If it wasn't for Raven and Starfire, him and BB would have ben skewered by crazy robot-ninjas by now.

_"__Slade's probably going to find out about this and get brand-new spankin' ideas; if he's not already behind this random onslaught."_

He could tell that the girls were starting to wear themselves out, and Cy didn't look to be doing much better. They have been fighting like this for, what was probably, over an hour by now.

There was a distant sound of howling again. He'd been hearing it off and on the entire time they were here. The past ten minutes were of Robin wishing BB would_ wake up_ so he could do his animal-thing, calling on the local wolf-packs to help them out.

_"__It would prove to be a nice distraction, but I have a feeling the wolves wouldn't make it."_

Sighing, Robin berated himself for being so careless. He really needed his focus back. This was just sad.

Suddenly he hears Raven's voice, "I will come get you in a second Robin, these things won't stop!"

Starfire was doing everything she could to focus on battling the targets.

A few minutes later and there were only three left, the sumo was almost down, but now Raven was out cold, and Starfire just got catapulted (what he could only assume) was a mile or more away.

Now he was panicking. He ropes had been tied too tightly, even with his gloves on he wasn't able to get much done on freeing himself. Then he felt something gnawing on the ropes behind him.

_"__Good. BB's up, together we can take these three and then help Cy."_

An explosion was heard in the distance, and then a "Booya!" followed seconds by a "Damn."

Then he sees a Cyborg fly in his direction. His friend lands, making a small crater in the forest ground beside him. Cyborg spots Robin, "Shit man –"

"Don't worry about me, I'm almost free, finish him!"

"You got it!" Then Cyborg was off again, the thick foliage obstructing his view of his friend's fight. Just as the remaining ninjas had seemed to reconvene, they began to head towards him.

Robin smirked as he felt the ropes loosen, but then he got a knick to his hand from Beast Boy's teeth, "Ow! Watch it!"

Just as the ninjas lunged at him he sprung back into action, though favoring his left arm and shoulder from where a shuriken had made its home. About to yell at his green friend to come and help him, he started to hear a loud snarling noise and the sounds of a vicious dog fight.

_"__Great, he's busy."_

Normally Robin wouldn't admit to needing help, but his arm is killing him and he's without his Bo staff and belt. While he was temporarily distracted trying to find a way out of his predicament to try and get to his friends, he was thrown. But as he was thrown, he caught one of their flash bombs and boomeranged it back towards them before landing. Sending them flying backwards as well.

As he was getting to his knees, he heard his red headed friend land on the forest floor.

"Starfire! There are more! Find BB and –" as he spun around to look towards his ex girlfriend, his eyes widen as he sees Star with a currently lethargic looking Beast Boy getting to his feet with the help of the ex-princess.

_"__What?" _a tendril of fear, caused only by surprise clutched his chest for a split second at the realization that his green friend most likely hadn't been the one to free him.

"Robin!" Starfire gasps, horrified at something behind him.

The fighter turns back around only to step forward and get his leg caught in a metal trap. He yells and grits his teeth trying to get out as he looks up and eyes widen again.

There was a ninja coming straight at him with a katana, the last thing he saw before the tables started to turn was a glint of the half-moon on its blade.

* * *

Starfire screamed before getting blown to the side by a smaller smoke bomb with their green friend in her grasp. Angry, she musters up everything within her and takes it out on the steel ninja; blowing it to bits and sending shrapnel everywhere in the small clearing.

She turns in time to see the ninja lunge at Robin, knowing she'd be too late…

Then a giant black figure assaults the mechanical battle-hardened artist from the side, mowing it down.

Beast Boy, who has finally came to completely, along with Starfire and Robin stare in awe as the beast takes on the three remaining ninja machines. Ripping an arm off of one, taking some hits itself before disabling another.

The changeling was about to go and assist when he looked around the scene. Robin's leg was caught in what looked like a bear trap, and Raven was just coming-to about two yards away. He decided to help his cloaked friend to her feet, and then hopefully she could heal Robin. But before that he turns to Star, "Star! Fly up and find Cy! Bring him here if you can! I've got this for now."

She looks hesitant but concedes, "Okay friend." Then she's off.

Robin, forgetting the excruciating pain he was in, was transfixed. Watching the large beast, what looked like one of those creatures out of a fantasy novel, clash with the swiftly moving, soundless robots. All of them glowing in the light of the half-moon.

It was a giant, dire wolf. Like he's read about. Its' coat was slick and darker than the night that surrounded them. He felt safe, this creature had him completely captivated.

The beautiful beast was now down two, and despite its' wounds, it was still going strong. Suddenly, a fourth enemy that no one had been previously aware of dropped down into the fray, gaining the attention of the beast, leaving him open for the other to attack.

"No!" Robin shouted desperately.

* * *

Beast Boy looks up as he settles Raven on her feet, seeing the animal go down, struggling to get up. "Raven, help Robin. He's hurt bad."

He doesn't wait for the empath to answer before he leaps into action. But before he shifts, he chances a glance at Robin, seeing his desperation, before lunging into the fight, prying the bot off of their unsuspecting ally.

Swiftly, with his abilities, he dismantles one quickly before Cyborg and Starfire come and assist him.

Then there is silence as they all catch their breath.

Robin felt Raven's presence and contorts his body to look at her, "How bad is it?"

"You will be sore for a week. I wouldn't move around too much either if you don't want lasting damage in your leg. The muscle is torn in your shoulder. I helped it along, but it will still take almost two weeks to fully repair itself."

Not even bothering to argue, he just nods. Wordlessly they all knew he needed a break anyways. He was finally mature enough to realize that. Once he was released he is helped up by Raven and assisted by Starfire.

He looks up to see Beast Boy kneeling beside a large black lump, and Cyborg scanning it with his arm.

Cyborg looks up at Robin a little sadly, "Looks like this fella's hurt pretty badly." Beast Boy's hand remains in the animal's fur, putting pressure on a wound.

"We can't leave him here." Beast Boy mutters, looking distraught at the badly wounded beast. Looking once more at the creature, Robin made his decision.

"We are taking him home to the med bay." He looks to his left where Raven is supporting him. "Take Beast Boy and the dog with you. Cy, Starfire and I will meet you at home."

Raven looks at Robin carefully, "Are you sure?"

Robin narrows his gaze, serious, "Yes. We have the T-Car remember? Star can fly me to it, Cy can drive."

"Alright, let's get a move on then! See ya in fifteen Rae!"

"- ven. She mutters before standing by her green friend and the injured beast before teleporting.

* * *

Starfire is sitting in the front seat of the T-Car, routinely looking in the rear-view mirror to check on her friend Robin.

He was badly injured, but didn't look to be in discomfort. His leg was propped up as he stretched out across the back seat. She was worried about him, nonetheless.

_"__Friend Robin looks troubled. I hope he is alright."_

If she looked closely, she can see a hint of worry in his features as his brows furrowed slightly. Admittedly, she was surprised he hadn't gotten angry about the night's battle, though she knows that he is still upset about it. Things did not go well for them that night.

_"__We were just unlucky and tired." _She thinks to herself.

Robin's voice pipes up from the back seat, "Are we almost there? I want to see if he's okay."

Cyborg, surprised at his friend's comment chose not to address it just yet, admittedly exhausted after his one-on-one with the super sumo, "Yea man, like five more minutes."

After he hears Robin heave a deep breath he shifts the gears, "I will make it two."

Robin, arms folded across his chest, looks over from the back seat to meet his friend's eyes in the mirror and gives a light smile.

"Thanks Cy."

Starfire smiles happily to herself. At least Robin was looking like he was going to be okay for another day.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**So what do you think so far?**

**Review or PM please! **

**-Kallen**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:**

**In response to one of my guest reviews - The first chapter in the author's note highlights the current situations. So at this time of this story, RedX is on friendly terms with the Titans, and even friendlier with Starfire. He will make a presence ASAP! Most likely in Chapters 5 or 6, then you will start seeing him regularly.**

**3 Thanks for the review! Enjoy!**

**Kallen**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

The minute he parked his baby in the tower's garage, Robin sprang to life trying to struggle his way out of the backseat.

"Dude! Don't rip the upholstery! It's not like you'll get far anyways!"

Starfire went around to my side of the car and opened the door so Robin could shimmy out, feet first.

"Friend Robin, I will assist you?"

"Nah I got it Star." Robin grunted as he wriggled his feet to the garage floor, then with determination that was always so common on his face (though had been absent for awhile now) as he marched with an injured leg to the door of the Tower.

Cy scoffs, "Yo Rob! What's the hurry? Tower's not goin' nowhere."

"Friend Cyborg is right. Please do not injure yourself –"

The rest she said fell on deft ears as the door swished shut.

He scratches his head, "What's got him all worked up?"

"Perhaps he wishes to do the research on the dog that helped us today? Is it going to be okay?" Starfire inquired softly to her robotic friend.

"Yea… but still, it ain't goin' anywhere either. Not what I saw done to it. Poor guy." Cyborg rubbed the back of his neck.

"Common Star, let's go see what we can do to help out. This is obviously important to Robin."

"Yes. I had not seen that urgent-ness from him for some time now. It was nice… but I am still concerned."

"We all are Star… we all are."

* * *

Raven steps back from the wolf, who like Cyborg, barely fit on the medical exam table. Heaving a heavy sigh, her magic having worn her out, her shoulders slump, "That's all I am able to do right now. I don't have the –" her voice started shaking, but Beast Boy interrupted.

"Don't worry about it Rae. Go to bed. I can hold down the fort. I'm not a stranger to this stuff." He firmly informs her as he pulls out all the necessary medical equipment.

Even though she was beyond spent, she had the energy to look surprised. "You know how to stitch up things?"

Beast Boy pulls over a stool, petting the canine's head before cleaning away blood and dirt from the last large gash on its' side. He doesn't respond to Raven as he concentrates on starting to close the wound.

"Not 'stitch', technically these are 'sutures,' and yes." He pauses as he runs the needle through the wound, almost finished, "I have seen my fair share of gashes and gore." With a grunt he ties off the suture and then with a lighter he pulls from his pocket, slightly singes over the edges of the wound.

Raven kept her gaze on her friend, absorbing this behavior and his words to better figure him out later. However once she sees him get back up she calls out to him as she walks to the door, "We haven't seen an abundance of that stuff in our work here. You must learn quickly. It's good." She opens the door and walks through, but she's able to catch what was probably meant to be private words.

"…Never said it was here."

* * *

Robin grits his teeth as he hurries his way to the medbay. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he wanted that animal to live. He'd feel terrible if it dies on the table; at least before he can thank it.

"Ugh. Damn leg."

Soon enough he sees a weary and slightly confused-looking Raven leave the medical bay doors. She starts as she senses him down the hall.

"Um… Robin? Do you think you should – "

He didn't even give her a chance to speak. Just strode right by her like she wasn't there.

Raven looks after her friend for a few seconds, "Haven't seen him move that quickly in awhile." She mutters to herself as she continues on to her room.

* * *

Beast Boy hears Robin outside the door-passing Raven before he bursts through the doors, looking to be in a rush. He allows himself a soft smile.

His friend looked exhausted, but concern could be written all over his face. It softens as he slowly approaches the lump of black fur he had heaved onto the white table, which he now notices is splattered with blood, dripping and pooling onto the tiles below.

"It looks worse than it is. He will be fine, but will need some major recovery time. About a week." Beast Boy talks to Robin, but he doesn't think he's listening.

After washing his hands he turns around and leans on the counter, deciding to just watch.

His friend pulled up a chair and reached a hesitant hand to the beast's head. Petting the fur there.

"Did you free me?" Robin mutters.

It takes a second, then he remembers before he passed out that Robin was bound with thick rope.

"No, I did not."

"Why'd he do it?"

"Animals are very intuitive. Despite what people say, they are not beasts." The changeling pulls up a chair and sits by Robin, looking at the animal on the table and watching its shallow breaths.

Quietly, he continues, "Some studies show that they are more aware than humans. They are natural empaths."

Robin looks up at Beast Boy, "With their honed senses, they can smell, hear and sense emotions off of others. That whole lot people say about 'giving off bad vibes' is true in most ways."

His masked friend continues to watch him before looking back at the table. A silence hangs in the room between the two friends.

Softly and hesitantly, Robin speaks up, "I don't know why, or really what I am… feeling." He scrunches up his face at that word and continues, "But I want to thank him properly. Though I feel like I've met him before." He looks up at his green friend quizzically.

"Is that normal?" Beast Boy gives Robin a reassuring smile back. "Yea. Just like with friends or romances. Some people just click with an animal. That's why their bond is so strong." He looks at the wolf and pets a non-wounded area softly, "Though I have a feeling this guy's going to be one hell of a challenge. Seems a bit like a lone wolf to me."

Beast Boy stands up and stretches before leaving the room without another word.

Robin continues to watch the dog before smirking, "Kinda like me, huh?"

* * *

The changeling smiles from the other side of the door.

He knew Robin had a soft side somewhere. Maybe now he'll have a friend.

If it doesn't try to eat him first. He grimaces before heading down the hall towards the common area where he can smell Cyborg fixing up some meat. His mouth waters.

_"__No doubt for out new friend when he wakes up. Good. Thought they were going to buy him dog food." _ He makes a face.

* * *

Five minutes later, Robin returns from his daze, staring intently around the med room.

He yanks out his communicator, "Hey Cy." A crackle comes before the response.

"Yea man, need somethin'"

"Can you and Star help me move our guest to a better location? And help clean up in here? I have a feeling that BB and Raven are dead-tired."

"You got that right, he just passed out on the couch after trying to ask me to make him tofu. Haha."

He can hear Starfire giggle in the background.

Smiling Robin adds, "Thanks. I think we should hurry. I want to sleep and it looks like he'll awake in a few hours."

"Gotcha. Be right there!"

"Bye Robin!"

He snaps the communicator shut and picks a place to start cleaning.

* * *

Starfire and the Boy Wonder conked out on him just an hour ago. Everything was clean and food for the dog was made, now he just needed to get it out of the med bay.

Since the animal had begun stirring, he gave it a little bit more sleep aid to hopefully hold him for a few more hours.

Eventually, he made it down to the basement, cradling the giant wolf in his arms.

As he laid the large animal down, he hesitated, then picked it back up and laid it in one of their spare trap-cages.

"Sorry big guy, but I have a feeling you won't wake up too happy. Don't want you tearin' us to shreds." He settles the beast down before bringing over the food and water bowl he prepared earlier.

Cyborg heaves a sigh, "Alright. Done. Now I can shut down for a few hours."

As he ascends the staircase out of the room, he shuts off the lights. Only leaving one, solitary, hanging bulb buzzing with light.

* * *

The light was just beginning to touch the sky. At five in the morning, the team got approximately three hours of sleep that night; though one team member was up _all _night, after carefully moving the large beast to a spot he and Star had cleared in one of the larger storage rooms, he finally decided to power down.

Raven woke first, dragging her feet to the kitchen for some herbal tea, however she was beat.

"Beast Boy?" she calls out in a rough voice, surprised the changeling was up this early.

He turns around and looks over the back of the couch at his female friend, "Hey Raven. Started your tea." Without any explanation, he turns back around and resumes whatever he was doing.

"Wait."

Now fully awake, Raven was ready to get answers before her morning tea. "Have you been the one that starts the hot water in the mornings?"

Without even looking at her he answers, "Yea. Sometimes. I don't really have a consistent sleeping pattern. Half the time I'm up at four."

_Now_ he turns to grin at her, "Animal instincts ya know?"

She raises an eyebrow and gives him a deadpan stare.

"Woof."

He laughs and she turns back to the kitchen to hide a smile.

* * *

Robin didn't sleep well. Again. But at least he got _some_ sleep through his exhaustion, but he couldn't seem to fight the feeling of anticipation. He had been berating himself for being childish all night at his eagerness to see the animal they had downstairs.

_"__Common Robin. It's not freaking Christmas!" _

With a grumble and a groan to himself, he settles back into his covers while he closes his eyes and replays the previous night's events.

Eventually, he falls back asleep. Dreaming of moonlight and howling, black wolves.

Suddenly, his alarm starts blaring, scaring him awake. Frazzled, he picks up his clock and his eyes widen at the time.

He managed to get three more full hours of sleep. It was now nine.

Then he remembered something, groping the dresser for his communicator, he begins to nervously fidget around his room.

"Raven."

"Yea Robin, so you got some sleep. That's good." Her monotone voice droned, then it was overcome by an overly energetic one –

"Robin! Are your wounds doing okay? Do you want breakfast?! I have made mustard-flavored pancakes!"

Both Robin and Raven made a face at this.

"Uh… no thank you Star. And yea, I am feeling fine. I might need to fix the bandage on my shoulder though. Hey uh… did he wake yet?"

Starfire had bounded off to the kitchen, so Raven responded, "Not to my knowledge. No one has been down there. Cy's sleeping in. Said in his note that he'd be charged up by noon."

"Sounds good. And uh… can you make sure – "

Raven smirks at him through the communicator, "Don't worry. I'll make sure mustard doesn't touch your breakfast."

"Thanks." He snaps his communicator shut and heads over to the shower.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry this is short and a little rough. I want to get everything set up for the better parts (and by mid-October he starting on the second part which will be awesome).**

**Kallen**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

He got their guest freshly bandaged and brushed before leading it… _him_ into the common room.

The doors open and Robin strolls in with a smile. All of his friends watched as he makes his way to the kitchen, their faces were priceless.

They are so focused on him, that they don't see the large, onyx beast slither into the room with them. Quietly stalking the area, investigating.

Realizing that the room was far too quiet for this time of day, Robin turns to face the rest of the room, "Hey guys… uh… what's up?"

"You're happy." Raven drawls, almost in an accusatory manner, "Why?"

He looks to the others for help, but no luck there.

"Um… I'm feeling better?" Starting to feel out of his depth now, he begins to almost panic, but then he feels something brush behind him. Looking down behind him, he sees his canine rescuer glaring up at him, tapping his tail against the tiled floor.

"You going to introduce us to your new friend, Robin?" Beast Boy meets his leader's masked eyes and smirks knowingly.

"New friend? That's wonderful Robin! Where are they? Are they visiting tonight? Ooo I want to meet them!" Starfire squeals excitedly.

Cyborg walks into the room just then, feeling refreshed. "Hey ya'll!"

"Cyborg! Friend Robin has someone for us to meet!"

"Really?" Cy rubs the back of his neck, looking over at Robin, "Are you sure you want visitors here when we have you-know-what downstairs?"

"What's downstairs friend?"

"The behemoth that saved Robins ass the other night."

Star gasps, "Oh no! I forgot! I had wanted to bring him some pillows of comfort and see if he was alright!"

Robin chuckles at his red-headed friend before stepping out from behind the counter's island, where he was making sandwiches.

"He's right behind me." Beaming, Robin gestures to his side and sure enough, their visitor hesitantly walks forwards, scowling at them all – and making sure he was out of arms-reach from everyone in the room.

"Oh! He is still in pain!" She starts to float towards him but Robin holds up a green-gloved hand.

"Hold up Star, he's a bit testy right now. He doesn't trust us, so don't startle him, okay?"

"Uh… Rob," Cyborg calls out, "Are you sure this is smart? I mean, you said it yourself – he's dangerous."

"He won't hurt anyone, but he _really_ didn't appreciate the crate you stuck him in last night, Cy."

After that was said, the dog grumbled in his throat and shot a threating look towards the half-man, half-robot, baring his pearly white… really _large_ teeth.

"See?! _That's_ why." Cy gestures towards the large animal, standing a few feet away from his masked friend, "There's no telling _what_ a frightened animal can do. I wasn't going to take any chances, especially after seeing what he's capable of."

Robin scowls at his friend, "Well, it's over, and he's already out. So say 'hi'"

Beast Boy is the first to approach the animal, "Hey buddy," He holds his gloved hand out for the large beast to smell. It gives the changeling a funny look before taking a quick sniff and then backing away. Smiling, the green skinned teen stands up.

"He's cool, just a little cautious." Shooting a cheeky grin at Cyborg, he continues, "So if you plan on stuffing him in a box again… I'd think twice. Otherwise, he'll be safe enough to have around for a few days." Beast Boy goes to pat him on the head, but it dodges his attempt. It doesn't deter the changeling, he just smiles and looks over to Robin, sending him a wink.

Raven and Cyborg come closer to the center of the room and look surprised, "A few days? I thought once he woke we were going to return him to the place we found him." The gothic lady monotonously asked, rising an eyebrow under her hood in question.

"Yea! He's up. He's walking, he's growlin'… I'd say he's fine." Cyborg added, siding with Raven on this one.

BB's about to defend, but Robin interjects, "He's not well enough to hunt. How will he survive? There were other wolves out there, and he wasn't with them. That means he's all alone. What if they were to attack him? He's injured, he wouldn't win."

"Though he'd put up a mean fight!" Beast Boy adds, trying to lighten the mood with a little joke.

Both Starfire and their newest animal-guest just watch the others with interest.

"Robin, I didn't think that was the plan."

"We didn't _have _a plan." Robin frowns, crossing his arms over his chest then he sighs,

"Why not take him to a shelter or a humane society place."

"Or the local zoo," Cy interrupts, "he's certainly big enough –"

"NO."

Beast Boy gives everyone in the room a firm, disapproving look. "We will not do anything of the sort."

"Look, BB, I know how you feel about this stuff, but they'll have vets there, and we can make sure they release him in his proper habitat. There are places that do stuff like that."

"And he'll be in a cage and miserable until he _maybe_ gets out."

Beast Boy lets out a small growl, "Cy-"

"Guys!" all heads turn to the boy wonder, "I'll keep an eye on him. He'll stay around me until he's healed enough to go."

He looks down at the canine who's staring right back at him with bright, golden, questioning eyes, "It's important to me, please? I gotta repay him _somehow_."

At their leader's rare, pleading look, everyone concedes, and they all go about the rest of their day as normal - except for a large shadow trailing a certain traffic-light-outfitted hero around the tower.

* * *

Day turned into night, and everyone was heading to bed. A spot was set up in the living room for the dog by Cyborg, who was going to place security camera and detectors incase it tries to tear apart the place while they're sleeping – but that doesn't happen.

Instead, their guest lazily limps behind Robin. "Alright, you can sleep anywhere you want, there's plenty of space." He gestures to the room, watching the canine look around. Smiling, Robin turns and goes to take a shower.

He hears a huff outside the bathroom door and when he opens it, towel around his waist, he finds that the large beast was lying just around the corner. Robin lets out a laugh this time as the dog shoots him an accusatory glare.

"If I knew you were waiting I wouldn't have taken so long," Hearing the dog cough and murmur, he grins to himself as he heads for his dresser, changing into a pair of flannel pants.

Turning around, he finds the dog – who still remains out of reach – sitting behind him. Continuing to watch the masked boy curiously.

"I don't think I'm used to getting this much attention. Especially from an animal – unless BB counts." He smiles down at it, and it almost, _almost_ looks as if it's returning a smile.

When Robin goes to crawl into bed, he gets the dog's attention, "You can take the bed… there is also a couch and of course the floor… Also you can go to the living room if you want…"

The canine regards him for a moment before turning around and heading over to the farthest corner of the room, laying down; making sure his eyes were focused on Robin.

"Alright, g'night then… and Thank you,"

He hears a shuffle from the other side of the room, so he continues, "for saving me. You didn't have to do that, but I'm here because you did… so… thanks. "

With that off his chest, Robin falls asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**This chapter is short, but more will follow suit. It starts getting real cute from here, and then... ofcourse a small cliffhanger before moving into Part 2.**

**Then that's where all the awesome (and juicy) starts. ;]**

**Adventure await!**

**R&amp;R!**

**Kallen**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Dude, that dog's been following Robin around for the past two weeks."

Cyborg looks up from his gigantic bowl of cereal, swallowing, "Yea man, I know. That thing never leaves his side."

"But still won't let anyone touch it." Raven murmurs.

The green changeling grins, "Aw… did you want to play with the doggie Rae-Rae?" he teases.

His hot cereal explodes in his face.

"Yea… I deserved that one." BB smiles and goes to wipe all the food off his face, licking his fingers as he does so, "Speaking of the devil and his shadow…"

Right on his cue, Robin strolls into the room and heads towards the kitchen, the aforementioned canine hot on his heels.

Starfire is the last to enter, "Friends! It is such a glorious morning, is it not!"

There's a chorus of 'good mornings' and 'yea it is' from the group. Robin hums as he makes two breakfast sandwiches.

"So," Robin strikes up a conversation while leaning against the counter, waiting the the microwave, "anyone have plans for the day?"

"Why? Are you going to have us do some more rounds on the course?" BB asks solemnly. He's not a big fan of the course, but he'll do whatever makes Robin assured that they are all at their physical best.

The guys all continue talking, and the furry guest confidently walks up to the red head, looking up at her.

"Ooooh! Hello there!" even though the dog is quite large, Star kneels down on one long knee, and comes face-to-face with it, "How is our new friend doing?" She smiles at him. Raven watches as the midnight-black dog regards her suspiciously with bright yellow eyes.

"He seems to be doing better." She adds before looking back to her reading… but not actually _reading_. At random times throughout the morning so far she has stolen peeks at her green friend about a dozen times.

And she couldn't figure out what was _different_. It was bugging her so much, she might just pull the changeling aside and let Rage scream it in his handsome face.

Her eyes widen in recognition of her thoughts, and with a red face, she hides behind her book.

Across the kitchen, the microwave dings and Robin pulls out two, freshly thawed sandwiches, setting both on his plate before turning to grab his glass of vitamin C.

He seats himself at the kitchen counter and smiles at Starfire kneeling in front of the dog, chattering away at it; just like he's been doing.

_"Well, he's a great listener."_ Smiling, he grabs one of the sandwiches off of his plate and calls out, "Hey, Shadow! Food!"

The dog turns around and hurries over to Robin, carefully taking the sandwich out of his hands before trotting out of the room with it to scarf it privately.

Robin continues his breakfast, his friends all staring at him now. Cyborg face-palming, mumbles, "Great… he fucking _named _it."

BB just smiles mischievously at his tin-can-friend, "What can you say? He's been happier since _Shadow_ –" Cy glares at his friend, "joined us here."

Overhearing the conversation, Starfire perks up, "Oh! Is he to join us in the tower!" She squeals girlishly, making poor Raven look at her queasily. ""Yay! Silkie will have a friend! And the earth dogs like fetch, right? We can play games!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second, who said he was staying?! Once he's better, which he looks fine by the state of his bandages today, he's supposed to go back where he came from." Cyborg shouts, shutting down the operation right there.

Raven turned to watch Robin, and she sees his face fall as he stops eating his sandwich. Frozen, he watches her listen in on the _not so private_ conversation.

Sharing a knowing glance, Raven and Beast Boy nod. They had to find a way to settle this situation; especially for Robin.

Raven gently pushes her consciousness against Beat Boy's mind, and he cracks the door open just a sliver. He hears her melodic voice float into his mind.

"I'll meet you at your room tonight, we'll figure out what to do about this then."

Physically BB nods – then slams the proverbial door against Raven's prodding consciousness. Raven almost winces before she returns to the safety of her book again. After satisfied that the changeling's attention was elsewhere, she peeks back over the pages and watches him.

_"How did he know how to do that? How is he **able** to –"_

A blaring alarm sounds throughout the building, ending all conversations and thoughts, silent or otherwise. Red flashes throughout the building, and Robin goes to answer the call.

* * *

Everyone returns from the mission in silence. Cinderblock had been terrorizing the suburbs, oddly enough, so it wasn't too difficult to take him down, but there were a few homes with some damage. Dealing with complaints of angry and frightened families; they were exhausted and were utterly grateful when the mayor came with the cops to take over the fiasco.

They all trudge into the living room, having agreed to order pizza and spend the rest of the afternoon and evening watching movies. Cy was the first to propel himself over the couch back of the couch and land in his favorite spot.

"Whooo man. That shouldn't have been as exhausting as it was."

Robin groans, dragging a gloved hand down his face, "Agreed."

"I'll be right back guys, I'm gunna change, This suit smells like sewer water."

"I think I will follow friend Beast Boy's suit. It was most… gross."

The changeling chuckles and leads the way out of the room.

Once they left, Robin taps Raven on the shoulder, "When you are done, can you set the coffee on for me? Decaf."

"Yea, sure. Whatever."

"Thanks, I'm going to go let Shadow out. Be right back." With that said he hurries out of the room, missing Cyborg's groan.

"Man, I can't believe he named it. This was why I didn't want us to keep it around. It's just going to hurt more when we have to put it down."

"It's not being 'put down,' we will return him to the spot we took him from." Raven corrects him before putting on the decaf to brew and heading over to the couch.

Cyborg heaves a heavy sigh, and she looks at him oddly, "What?"

"Rae, I was looking that park up online to see if there were any park rangers we could contact to check up on him, so if he wanted, Robin could see how he was doing."

"That was very thoughtful of you Cy… though I'm sensing a 'but'…?" Raven prods gently.

Looking over his shoulder at her, he shakes his head, "They are going to start doing population control in the area. Apparently there are too many predators, not enough prey."

"So you are saying…?"

"Judging by his size? He'd be the first to go."

Raven has no response to this.

"Rae, listen… you can _not_ tell them, especially BB. He'd throw a fit and create a huge scandal. The reality is we can't save _everyone._"

Raven looks into her mug and frowns.

She wasn't sure how she felt about that…

Suddenly, Robin stumbles into the room, a manic look on his face. "He's not there."

Cyborg moves to stand, "He's what?"

"He's not in my room. Or the hallways, or the evidence room,"

"You let a dog into the evidence room with you?"

" – and he's not in the cellar!" Robin was using his 'ultra-serious-leader-voice' now. He nearly pounces on BB the second he enters the room.

"Beast Boy! Please… you can find him, can't you?" There's a green face in his, filled with confusion, "Uh… find _who_ man?"

"Shadow! He's not here –"

Starfire floats in, a worried look on her pretty face, "Maybe he went home?"

Cyborg relaxes and brightens up, "Yea man, he was probably ready to go back. He saw the opportunity and took it. He's a big, bad, scary wolf, he can take care of himself, Rob. Wild animals like him aren't used to being kept indoors or as pets."

Beast Boy shoots Cy a look, "But for being a _wild animal_, he was unusually well-behaved indoors. No accidents, didn't chew anything up or destroy something valuable."

"Except for kipping one of my books." Raven points out, crossing her arms, "I still would like to know where he hid the thing. Or _why_ he'd take a book in the first place."

BB rolls his eyes, "I have it Rae, he didn't do anything but get it for me."

Raven flushes in anger and Cyborg responds, "You _told_ the thing to take Rae's book from her?"

BB grins innocently, "I wanted to see if he'd do it."

The others look at him incredulously, while Robin looks down at his shoes, trying not to let his face show that this affected him. He feels a heavy metal hand drop to his shoulder, so he looks up at his friends, "Hey Rob, it's okay. He's where he belongs –"

There's a buzzing sound that alerts the tower that someone is at the door, "Pizza guy… I'll go get it."

"I'll join you."

BB shoots Raven a funny look before walking off to the elevator to retrieve the pizza.

* * *

After the pizza was paid for, the two teens start to head back up to the common room, but BB reaches out and touches Raven's arm lightly.

Startled, a light bulb down the hallway blows out, but they both ignore it, "Hey, I'll join you guys in a sec. I wanna check on my laundry while I'm down here."

Gathering herself, she smirks at him, "You? Doing laundry? Never thought I'd hear _that_ sentence from you – moss boy."

BB laughs genially, causing Raven to smile, "Yea, yea, I know… but your little grass stain is a big boy, he can take care of himself well enough."

After shooting Raven a wink as the elevator doors close, he turns and heads down the hall to the laundry room.

On his way to the end of the hall, his ears pick up a soft sound coming from one of the machines in the workout room. Curious, he changes direction and opens the door.

There, at the furthest treadmill from the door, was Shadow.

The stereo was on, playing Robin's usual workout montage mix, and there was the dog, trotting along with the machine like he knew exactly what he was doing.

_"Perhaps he does, he's way too smart to be a normal dog. The book could have been a lucky guess… but this proves it."_

Walking into the room, BB hits the button to stop the treadmill. As is slows to a stop, the beast hops off and looks up at the changeling accusingly. Golden-yellow eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"We are back and having pizza. Robin was looking for you. He thought you had left."

He watches the animal for a reaction, and he notices it frowns, his ears pulled back in shame.

"Yea, so let's get going, 'kay?"

At that, BB leads the way back to the common room, Shadow in tow.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The elevator doors open and Shadow leads the way to the common area, following the sound of the television and the clanking of plates. The lovely smell of pizza and gooey cheese floats down the hallway, getting BB to catch up.

"Hey guys! Save some veggie-pizza for me!" jogging, he makes his way to the counter and puts a plate together.

"We really should start eating better –"

Cyborg scoffs and Starfire interrupts Raven, "But it is the tradition! The night of movies is always joined with the cheesy pizza goodness."

Raven looks at her funny, Cyborg laughs, and BB looks proud, "I taught her that!"

"Yes, and I think you greatly, friend Beast Boy!" with that she floats over to the couch.

"Is someone going to get Robin?"

Beast Boy looks up from piling pizza on his little plate, "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"To his room."

Beast Boy looks at the girls, then down at himself, "Ah, into casuals?"

"That _is_ what leader Robin said."

"Maaaan, I don't know why he's so bothered! It's just a _dog_."

Raven chuckles, not bothering to suppress it. Cyborg looks at her suspiciously, "What?"

Grinning, BB steps passed his friend and heads towards the couch to join Star, "Oh, nothing… it's just that said _dog_ is glaring daggers into the back of your shiny head."

Now at that, they all laugh at Cy's expense when he turns around, surprised to see the large canine… smirking at him now?

"Man… you give me the creeps, you know that."

The dog flashes his pearly whites before turning around and leaving the room.

"Uh…"

"He's probably going to find Robin. Let him be."

"Okay, no… wait, hold up! Where _was_ he anyways?"

Beast Boy grins to himself and starts to eat his pizza, "I… think he's going to leave you in the dark on this one." Raven drawls, giving Cyborg an amused look.

"Yea, well… let's just start the movie."

Star gasps, "But friend Robin is not with us yet!"

"He's seen this flick before, Star. It'll be okay."

Unsure, Star just nods and continues to eat her mustard and mint-chip pizza as the robot-man hits 'play'.

* * *

Having changed out of his uniform the second he walked into his room, he took the opportunity to be alone for a few moments until it was time to join his team in their…

_"__How would Star put it? 'Night of merriment'? Probably." _

Chuckling to himself, he jump-hops onto his bed, landing on his back, staring at the smooth, white ceiling. Now, in the comfort of his quarters, he allows himself a frown. Such a fool, he is. He's the leader of the freaking Teen Titans, and here he is moping about a runaway dog… wolf… whatever Shadow was…

With a huff, he sits up and flops over on his stomach towards the foot of the bed. Looking over the edge, he stares at the makeshift bed his canine friend had made about a week ago.

He smiles to himself, remembering the first (and last) time that Shadow had _allowed_ Robin to pet him...

* * *

He had been in the throws of panic, caught in a nightmare he couldn't wake himself up from.

That night, he was lying in bed. Knowing it was just a dream, knowing it was real, but still having no power over the circumstances.

When he _did_ finally wake up, he was sticky with sweat. He had wiped sweat and tears from his face before he was about to get up –

Only there, sitting by the side of his bed was Shadow, looking down at him. Instantly, Robin felt his heart calm back down. Tentatively, he had reached a naked hand out towards the wolf's head –

It let out a breath and then rested his head close to Robin's pillow. He had spent some time running his ungloved fingers through silky, midnight fur… until he eventually fell back into a calm, dreamless sleep.

He had woken up the next day feeling refreshed, and a little confused. As he moved to hop out of his bed, his bare feet came in contact with soft, fluffy fur. The ground beneath him grunted, huffed and then rolled over before rising on four wobbly limbs.

Robin had watched as his new friend stretched and yawned.

That was the day he named him. Only it was supposed to be a secret.

* * *

Now, he looks sadly down at the pillows sighing and sitting up when he hears the door to his quarters slide open, "I'm sorry, I was working. I'll be there in a sec." he calls out (he hopes convincingly), only to not receive a response.

He gets up and walks around the corner to see why it opened… and something knocks him flat on his back.

Robin was unable to stop the goofy-ass grin that stretches across his at seeing his friend, "Shadow!"

The dog smiles down at him, growls playfully – though he makes no other protest as Robin runs his fingers through his fur, "I thought you left! Where were you?"

Instead of an answer, Shadow releases Robin from his pin, and gently takes his flannel sleeve into his large mouth and tugs. Communicating to the boy to get _up_. Then he drops Robin's arm, turns around and leads the way out of the room.

Getting up, Robin allows himself a goofy smile of relief. He was alone anyways, except for Shadow. No one else could see him this undignified; so he works on stifling the smile to a neutral expression…

Only to lose it again at the weird look his new companion was giving him.

"Stop making stupid faces!" Robin laughs and Shadow just huffs and trotts off towards the common room.

He takes a deep breath before following, trying not to look so relieved that Shadow hadn't left them… yet.

They'd loose respect for him as their leader if he didn't start to pull his shit together.

Cyborg was already questioning his leadership ability, it seems.

Frowning, Robin enters the common room, seeing Shadow rise up on his hind legs, easily snatching a box of pizza before bringing it with him to what had become 'their spot.'

He smiles at that, then his friends pause and rewind the movie a bit as he sits on the floor against the couch beside Shadow and they share the box of pizza.

All of his friends watch Robin at different times throughout the rest of the film. Beast Boy just found it amusing that the canine was actually _watching _the television… Starfire had to giggle at the funny expressions the dog made, and its' reactions to Robin's surprise at certain points in the movie.

Raven and Cyborg, towards the end of the film, catch their leader smiling contently; on hand on his knee, and the other sliding through shiny, black fur as the beast slept.

Cyborg looks at Raven, who raises an eyebrow. He sighs.

Looks like this dog was here to stay.

* * *

**Flashing Forwards -**

After that, a month passes by in a flash, and by then all of the Titans had grown accustomed to the large, black shadow following their leader everywhere; even sometimes on missions.

Right now, it was the day after a very difficult and trying mission, where if Shadow hadn't disobeyed Robin's orders and had stayed at the tower, they all would have been turned into pieces of furniture, or in Raven's case, a fluffy bunny again.

He didn't even need to really _do _anything. His size alone and his threatening growl scared the crazy-ass magician off screaming – dropping his wand which was delivered carefully to the leader by his faithful companion.

Robin had shot a look over at Cyborg, who just smiles and nods.

* * *

"Hey, Shadow… come here a second."

The large dog turns and approaches his best friend, tilting his head to the side curiously, trying to get a peek at what was behind his back.

Robin, smiling, then drops to his knees in front of him – now looking up at the canine, due to its monstrous size, "Um… so… I talked to the mayor, and he says it's okay if you stay with us here…"

Suddenly feeling awkward, the boy wonder shuffles a bit on his knees, "So… if… staying it what _you_ would like… you can." He meets his newest friend's bright, golden eyes and smiles.

"And if you want to go back… to wherever your home was before… you can. I'll miss you, but you're all better now… well… you have been… so…"

He looks away with a slight blush before looking back at the dog, scowling in embarrassment.

"Look, by now I _know_ that you understand me… so… stop looking so surprised or confused –"

A long, wet, warm tongue drags up his cheek. Before he can protest or feel any _more_ awkward talking like this to an animal, the beast pushes him backwards, then turns away and hops up onto Robin's bed and settles down, watching Robin.

It was doing a terrible job at hiding a teasing smirk, it really was. Robin laughs as he gets up and sees his new friend…

_"The newest **Titan**." _He tells himself with a smile.

Walking over to his bed, he looks down at its' current occupant and smirks, "Well, if that's your answer, then you'll need this."

Out of the bag he pulls out a thick, black and yellow collar with shiny silver studs decorating it.

But Shadow just sits up and looks at it suspiciously.

"Look. You are not a pet, if you accept this… you'll be a Titan."

Well, he's got his attention _now_.

"It'll be hard work. You'll be part of our team, and you'll have to train with me. I've seen you up against criminals. You can fight," he pauses as he sees the dog smirk confidently up at him, "and I'm pretty sure you are keeping a few other secrets of your own from us. But I respect that."

Robin reaches out a hand and runs it through the fur on top of Shadow's head, making sure the canine's golden eyes were locked on his, "You'll be my partner. A crime fighting hero." He grins, "You up for it?"

The leader moves to put the collar on the other after receiving a nod of confirmation. It clicks and bleeps in place.

"Cool, now let's head up to the roof. Cy's made a carnivore's feast for you." He stands up and sends a smile filled with mirth over to Shadow, "Much to BB's dismay."

Robin then leaves the room, Shadow lets out a very 'un-canine like' snicker before bounding after him.

Riding the elevator up to the top beside his friend, Shadow looks up at the smile on the other's face.

\- And wonders if he should tell Robin he could talk yet?

Or at all, for that matter.

In silence, they ride the rest of the way up to the party thrown in his honor.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Sorry, I'm trying to speed through Part One, because I want to get to the good stuff already.**

**So FYI, cheesiness is not my thing, but that was how this prelude/intro is going to seem in this chapter and the next. But please bare with me a little bit. ;]**

**Also if you haven't already, check out "Rocket Meets His Match"! New chapters up!**

**NEXT AND FINAL chapter for Part One will be BBxRaven centric.**

**Part Two will start getting posted Friday.**

**Thanks all!**

**Kallen**


	8. Chapter 7 Author's Note

**A/N:**

**Sorry... I decided to add on a few more chapters that will leave Part One standing with an awesome cliffhanger, which would lead into Part Two of the series quite nicely I think.**

**So enjoy the rest of part one!**

**I myself am pretty darn excited about it.**

**The plot begins to thicken...**

**3**

**Kallen**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The months pass by, and before the Titans realize it, their newest resident in the tower had been a part of their lives for nearly six months already.

Raven sat at her usual seat at the countertop, observing Robin walk in his ever-present Shadow; right by his side. There was something that was off about the large hound, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. All she has are her suspicions of him not being just a normal dog – but then everyone knew _that._

So she shouldn't have acted so surprised when she found the dog with one of her books on the floor, appearing to be reading it (though having immense difficulties turning the pages). After watching the animal for a good twenty minutes, she made herself 'known' and picked up the book from him.

He hadn't been surprised to see her, which means the dog knew she was watching him that entire time.

Under any other circumstances, she would have been quick to voice her concerns to the team; but Shadow continues to be a good influence on their leader. Seeing him happier than she ever remembers him being… she didn't have the heart to plant a seed of doubt if there was no call for it.

Didn't mean she would stop watching him curiously though.

"Hey Rae, what's with the void stare?" a teasing velvet voice brings her from her musings. She looks up at her green friend and clenches her mug, fighting back a blush. Looking around the room she realizes that for a while she had been just staring out into space…

Oops.

Recovering, she rolls her eyes but it is not seen because Beast Boy had already cracked open the fridge, and was currently humming as he dug through it to find something to eat.

Raven silently sips at her tea and watches him maneuver around the kitchen. It wasn't very early, about 9am, but regardless her, the changeling, Robin and Shadow were the only souls awake within the tower on this relaxing Sunday morning.

She is tries to suppress a jolt of surprise when Beast Boy settles himself in the stool across from her on the island counter, digging in to his meat-free breakfast.

"So, Raven… I wanted to talk with you about something."

"Oh?" curious, Raven gave the changeling her full attention.

He had been warranting it a lot more nowadays – she tries not to dwell on that though.

After finishing a bite, her friend sets down his utensils and rests his gloved hands on the surface. "Yea, I think that Shadow may have… magical abilities? Or possibly a power…"

She gives him a blank stare, unsure how she was expected to react. Taking this as confusion (which Raven wouldn't admit that it _was_) he clarifies.

"You know Raven, like he's not from this realm, or planet or… like he's some sort of super-dog or something. I mean, I've only heard about dire wolves in legends… but I know that they did exist as a species once – just like dragons…" hear he throws in a trademark, goofy grin.

"Except dragons are _way_ cooler."

At that she couldn't help but give him a small smile before mulling the concept over in her lavender-haired head. Silence settles over the table as Beast Boy patiently waits for a reply from Raven while picking at his eggless veggie omelet.

"Hmmm…" disrupting that with a sip from her herbal tea she continues thoughtfully, "That's a possibility that has crossed my mind… but for a bit I was concerned with was going to be some sort of demon or dangerous trap – but I haven't been sensing any malcontent from Shadow… unless we are in more…pressing situations."

Her eyes meet Beast Boy's emerald gaze and he shoots her a small smile before finishing off his food.

For some reason… she wants to keep the conversation flowing before he decides to leave (this she will have to meditate on later), she blurts out, "What do you know about Dire Wolves?"

Without looking up at her, BB answers honestly, "I took it upon myself years ago, both after the Adonis and the Melchior debacles, to learn a variety of other creatures. Some mythical and some from other planets we have visited over the past."

Staring at him now, caught by surprise _again_, she can do nothing but listen further, "So far those ones seem to be a bit dicey as far as mutating goes… do they wouldn't be very useful in most battles… but I'd rather be prepared than helpless."

That last word was punctuated with a small growl and a glower on his forehead.

Raven softens her gaze at her green friend, a flutter in her heart and a small frown on her face. Softly, she says, "What has ever happened that makes you think that, Beast Boy?"

He sighs and stands quickly, ignoring her. Before Raven could push, Cyborg bursts into the room with an obnoxious "Booyah!" Startling the poor mage, while Beast Boy remained un-phased except for the wide smile that pulls across his face as he turns around, greeting his metallic friend.

""Yo, Cy! What's up man?!"

"Nothin' much BB, just finished some _totally epic_ additions to my baby! Wanna check 'em out?!"

"Hell yea dude! I'll be right down there!"

"Cool grass stain, I'll go find Robin; he's gunna wanna see this!"

And with that both of the guys left the room. Raven peruses her lips, wondering whether or not she should be offended at their lack of acknowledgement. Sighing, she raises from her spot and goes to dispose of her mug in the sink.

"I should see if Star wants to do anything today. I need to go to the bookstore." Mumbling to herself as she washes her dishes and hands, cringing at the thought of inviting Starfire to go _shopping_ with her. But she knew it would be inevitable anyways; might as well be on her terms.

* * *

"Hey hero… and hero-dog." Red-X, now known as 'Jason' among the Titans, greets as he strolls into Robin's special room, "Another day in the bird-cave I see." Robin turns to stare incredulously at Red as he takes off his ghastly mask, dark hazel eyes glittering with a devious mirth.

Robin, over the past year, has tried his best to be civil to the anti-hero. They chat and get along well enough, but he wouldn't call him a friend. Confidant or useful acquaintance, maybe.

"What do you want Red?" the masked boy wonder irritably asks as fully turns around in his swivel desk chair, resting a hand atop Shadow's head, sliding his gloved hand down before gently gripping the scruff of his thick neck.

Noisily, Jason drags a metal chair to the center of the room and drapes himself over it lazily, resting his arms on the back of the chair. He gestures towards Shadow carelessly, "This is going to seem like a random question but… do you know where he came from? Or what kind of dog he is?"

Robin narrows his eyes skeptically at the other, which just made Red smirk through his mask, "What brings this up? What do you want?"

"Tsk… just a question I have had for months now. He's gigantic. The size of a full grown human man… if not bigger… like a Great Dane…"

"He's not a Great Dane."

X rolls his eyes at the Titan's leader, "No shit Sherlock. Anyways, random bout of curiosity aside… I have a favor to ask."

"And what makes you think I'd help you?"

"… well… actually I don't need _you_…" He looks over at the beast by Robin's side, watching him with bright eyes.

Before he can ever finish his question, Robin stops him right there, "No."

Blinking at the defensiveness in Robin's tone, he decides to better explain himself. He really did need the dog…, "Look, I'd ask BB, but he doesn't have what Shadow does."

"And what is that?"

"Bad-ass stealth." The anti-hero deadpans.

"No."

Red whines and stands up in his chair moving towards the canine, "But common man… he's so _cool_. I just want to watch him for like, a _day._" Kneeling in front of the dog, Jason scratches behind an ear.

Robin releases his friend's collar, knowing he'd want to soon move away from the obnoxious male, or leave the room entirely. Sighing, he drags a hand down his face and groans.

Two weeks ago, X had been with them to assist on a mission that had gone awry (since he was in the neighborhood he said). There, he saw his canine friend in action on the field and was in awe of him. Begging Robin to let him spar with his dog, borrow him for a recon mission for his job or whatever other excuses he could come up with to be around his friend. It was honestly starting to annoy him.

"Red. Leave." Robin grits out. The anti-hero backs away with his hands in the air, _"At least they are off of Shadow now." _He huffs and watches the other leave, but not before running into Cyborg in the doorway.

"Hey Jay! Whatcha doin' down here? I didn't know you were visiting!" The large, tin man greets, slapping the other on his back. "Just needed to aggravate the Bird Boy. You should get him to leave his little cave more often. He's looking pale." X quips, making Cyborg snort to hold back a laugh.

"That last attack by the bridge was one out of five that have happened the past month. It's something Slade might do." He crosses his arms over his chest and glares.

"At least let Shadow come out! We are going to the park to play Frisbee." Cyborg grins before looking over at Red, "You coming with? Or are you taking Star out again."

"We'll hang around for awhile, the movie isn't until five."

"As much as I love to hear your lovely plans for the day… please leave."

"Yea yea," the two grumble in unison as they close the door. Finally leaving him in peace.

* * *

Two more hours pass in his cave before he really starts to feel the heavy weight of exhaustion upon his shoulders. Groaning, he drops his face into his hands. He only looks up when he hears the rustle of movement from beside him as Shadow stands to his full height on his four limbs and makes his way over to the Boy Wonder; maintaining eye contact.

Still watching him intently, Shadow sits, his nose coming up to Robin's forehead; close enough so that all Robin could see where his whiskey irises.

He held his gaze for a moment before relenting, "Okay… okay… I guess it's time for a break." Robin begins to stand from his chair only to hear a small grunt. Looking over at the canine, who was now glaring at him in disapproval?

Smiling at his friend he rests a hand on his head for a second, which Shadow tolerates, "Okay… I get it. We have been in here awhile, huh?"

With that, he moves away to stretch before following Shadow to the door.

Just as the doors open, the alarm starts blaring throughout the tower. The two rush through the halls, running in with the other Titans along the way to the common room.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Short chapter... yes. But felt best to separate this part from the next parts.**

**Let me know what you think after chapter nine. PM me with any suggestions!**

**Thanks,**

**Kallen**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Some of the theories Robin was researching to try and anticipate the next 'random' attack were proven correct.

What he hadn't anticipated, however, was for three more to happen simultaneously in one evening.

Logically, all of the Titans had to split up – even Red X joined in to help, because they needed more hands. However things started to turn south not long in, forcing Cyborg and Robin to call in reinforcements from Titans East.

Raven and Beast Boy were at a bombing location, currently saving inhabitants from the destructive fire and rubble that was causing the tall building to collapse.

Three people had died in the initial explosion, and an old woman passed before they reached the scene.

Cyborg and Starfire were currently utilizing their strength to search for survivors in a collapsed, four-level parking garage. There was no report of a fire or a bomb… just a massive quake, which destabilized the structure and started to bring it down.

Lastly, Robin decided that he and Shadow would take care of a hostage situation going on in a warehouse just outside of Jump City. The 911 caller reported a hostage situation at a warehouse down by the docks. None of the Titans were concerned about Robin and Shadow taking care of it alone. This was something the SWAT or Police would have been doing had there not been so many other events going on at the same time.

* * *

"Awww man… this is going to take all night." Cyborg rubs the back of his neck before bending to lift a large, iron beam from off of a car. Starfire then swoops in and carefully extracts a teen who was paralyzed in fear.

Cradling the girl in her arms, Starfire swiftly took her over to the ambulances where she could be attended to with the eight others they found in there.

"At least the building was not fully occupied, not that this is not terrible – but that would have been terrible awful." Looking behind her at the ambulances, police, SWAT and a few military vehicles approaching, she turns back and meets Cyborgs a-symmetric stare, "I wonder how leader Robin and friends Raven and Beast Boy are doing…"

"Yea, I know." Looking over at the incoming reinforcements (hopefully), he continues, "I'm going to chat with the man in charge, hopefully soon they'll have everything under control and we can help our teammates. "

"That would be for the best – I feel… uneasy not being around to assist them."

Grunting as he maneuvers through the rubble, he replies, "Yea Star, me too."

* * *

"Raven! Top floor – family of five!" Beast Boy shouts over the roar of the fire to his empathic teammate.

"On it." Was the monotonous response before she phases through the unaffected tile floor in the lobby of the building.

He hears a child's scream and then crying coming from behind him. Turning around he morphs into a German Shepherd and weaves his way through the burning beams and fallen pieces. Within a minute he changes back, hearing gasping and coughing mixing with the child's tears.

_"I can't smell shit with all this smoke anyways."_ Eyes burning, he forces himself to go deeper into the flames and then nearly burns himself wrenching open a splintered door, seeing the children, a small boy and a girl stare up at him with wide eyes.

By instinct, compassion washes over his face as he coos at the children, bringing them into his arms. Standing up he feels a light, cool breeze coming from around the corner and the faint smell of outside air.

Hurrying through the mess, obtaining several burns from sheltering the two children, he eventually makes it a few steps out before he puts them both down. The girl runs off crying, and the boy turns around and desperately clings to the changeling's hand.

"Sir Beast Boy! My friend is still inside!"

Beast Boy looks up and sees that Raven had just phased out the family of five. She looks a little exhausted, but had no injuries as far as he could see. Looking back down at the child he answers, "My friend Raven got everyone out from upstairs. The building's going to collapse any minute, let's get you away from here."

"No! Please! He's still in his bed! His parents were gone at dinner! He's already hurt and he has machines that help him breath! He _has _to be alive! Please don't let him die!"

He drags the kid, who was struggling against him, further out into the lawn before dropping to his knees, looking at the kid seriously, grabbing his attention.

"What floor."

"Second to the very top. Over there." The blond boy points up towards a window, "That's his flat – but not his room. He'll be there."

"Go to the fire truck and get treated, I'll go get your friend."

With that, Beast Boy morphs into a leopard and charges back towards the crumbing building.

* * *

Perhaps a little overconfident, Robin drops into the warehouse alone – ordering Shadow to enter in around the back, and to sneak out any hostages he can.

The instant he sees the scene, he realizes that he was too late.

Corpses of murdered workmen and red, drying blood cover the cement flooring in the dim lighting. Suddenly to his right, he hears a laughter that sends a chill down his spine.

Gritting his teeth he steels himself, "Get out here! Show yourself!"

"Well you are certainly no coward… are you my boy?" a smooth, slimy hiss resounds throughout the space. Rolling his shoulders, Robin frowns. The voice reminded him of the snake's voice in the last _Harry Potter _movie they watched as a team. It was creepy then, and it's definitely creepy now.

Focusing on the inevitable upcoming battle, he growls and waits for the suspect to step into the light.

The clicks of healed boots create a harsh echo throughout the cold, dank warehouse. Robin tries to not react when he sees the man.

Crazed, bloodshot eyes lock onto his mask, paired with a curling, malicious smile full of jagged, yellow teeth.

"Who are you?! Why did you do this?!"

Seemingly rendered calm at Robin's outburst of rage, the crazed man folds his hands behind his back and begins to make a motion to circle the hero.

"Ah… Robin. Leader of the Teen Titans… here alone?" Eyes disappear as a large, brimmed hat is pulled down over his eyes.

"Stop with your blathering and answer me." Robin lowers his voice register to a threatening, demanding level. "All of these men… _why?"_

"Everyone gets what's coming to them, Robin. And believe me when I say, these men here," He gestures a bloody, gloved hand towards a pile of bodies in the corner, hardly distinguishable from each other due to the extent of mutilation, "These men _deserved_ every laceration, decapitation, amputation and every gun shot they received."

Robin rears back, appalled, "You're mad!"

"Aren't we all, my boy?" snickering, the lithe, crazy son-of-a-bitch unsheathes two large machetes from his side, "All the others were just… casualties. As you are about to become one with me now."

"None of this answers _why_. Why kill dozens of people for the misdoings of a _few_. If they did you wrong, you go to the courts. The justice system – "

"THERE IS NO _JUSTICE!_" The man roars, sending a tremor throughout the building as he becomes more unhinged due to his rage.

"Why kill the innocents then? What is your name. What did they _do _to deserve this?!" Robin growls, hoping he can keep this man talking until Shadow appeared. For some reason he knew it wasn't wise to face this man alone.

There was an uneasy silence as Robin waits for a response, or for the villain to continue.

Slowly, another malicious grin curls on the man's crazy, filthy face. He chuckles darkly before he turns to face the Titans' leader head-on.

"Because I didn't want them to _burn_."

Robin stares at him in confusion, withdrawing his Bo staff in anticipation for an attack. He's about to ask for clarification when both of the room's occupants discover that they aren't alone.

A low, trembling snarl comes from the darkness. Robin is unsure whether or not to relax, not recognizing the threatening, malicious tone as one of Shadow's noises. He chances a glance at the villain to see that he doesn't seem very concerned. In fact, he seems _pleased_…

Like everything was going according to plan.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I know, another short chapter... but if I didn't cut it here, it would have been too long.**

**R&amp;R**

**Kallen**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

It was a crisp, clear night out, and he could smell the stench of death and gore. Already knowing things had gone south before Robin had entered the building, he pretended to heed his orders until the teen hero was out of sight. Then he allowed himself to melt into the shadows of the night; ever-present and dark thanks to the silver light of the half- moon.

Something was not right, and he was going to become one with the shadows to figure it out.

No harm will come to his leader on his watch.

After sifting through the cracks, ensconced in their darkness he slithers along the shadows and the wall. Taking a whiff of the turbid air, his stomach coils.

There was a bomb, and the presence of a scent he felt he should have recognized or remembered…

All he knew was that his gut was telling him this creature… this _monster_ – was mad, and he needed to get Robin out of here.

Now.

His ears twitch and pick up Robin's distressed shouts.

After analyzing the situation, he knew he couldn't do this alone: he needed the Titans' help.

"Who are you?! Why did you do this?!"

Seemingly rendered calm at Robin's outburst of rage, the crazed man folds his hands behind his back and begins to make a motion to circle the hero.

"Ah… Robin. Leader of the Teen Titans… here alone?" Eyes disappear as a large, brimmed hat is pulled down over his eyes.

"Stop with your blathering and answer me." Robin lowers his voice register to a threatening, demanding level. "All of these men… _why?"_

"Everyone gets what's coming to them, Robin. And believe me when I say that these men here," He gestures a bloody, gloved hand towards a pile of bodies in the corner, hardly distinguishable from each other due to the extent of mutilation, "These men _deserved_ every laceration, decapitation, amputation and every gun shot they received."

Robin rears back, appalled, "You're mad!"

"Aren't we all, my boy?" snickering, the lithe, crazy son-of-a-bitch unsheathes two large machetes from his side, "All the others were just… casualties. As you are about to become one with me now."

"None of this answers _why_. Why kill dozens of people for the misdoings of a _few_. If they did you wrong, you go to the courts. The justice system – "

"THERE IS NO _JUSTICE!_" The man roars, sending a tremor throughout the building as he becomes more unhinged.

"Why kill?! What is your name? What did they _do _to deserve this?!" Robin growls, hoping he can keep this man talking. This lunatic chilled his blood more than Slade ever did. He found himself wishing for Shadow to join him by his side – he grinds his teeth, chastising himself.

He's a fucking Titan, and a leader. He can handle this madman.

There was an uneasy silence as Robin waits for a response, or for the villain to continue.

Slowly, another malicious grin curls on the man's crazy, filthy face. He chuckles darkly before he turns to face the Titans' leader head-on.

"Because I didn't want them to _burn_."

Robin stares at him in confusion, withdrawing his Bo staff in anticipation for an attack. He's about to ask for clarification when both of the room's occupants discover that they aren't alone.

A low, trembling snarl comes from the darkness. Robin is unsure whether or not to relax, not recognizing the threatening, malicious tone as one of Shadow's. He chances a glance at the villain to see that he doesn't seem very concerned. In fact, he seems _pleased_…

Like everything was going according to plan.

Unnerved by the look on the twisted man's face, he starts to doubt that it's truly Shadow lurking in the darkness. For some reason, fear grips his chest – all of this was like something out of a gory, horror flick.

Robin relaxes when the growling softens and he feels his friend nudge him with his wet nose in the curve of his spine. Shadow seems to curl around Robin, his fierce eyes not leaving the madman.

Two loud, echoing blasts send a tremor through the building and alight the dark room with fire. Dust sprinkles down on the three – Robin shocked at the sudden attack, stumbles back into the large frame of his large canine.

Whipping his head towards the lunatic, he locks himself into a defensive stance – only to be lightly pushed aside.

"Shadow!"

Robin watches on as his companion stalks towards the bloody freak who is only looking more and more pleased with himself. There's another explosion and flames begin to lick the high ceilings – the air becoming thick with smoke and the horrid scent of burning flesh.

Maneuvering himself around a fallen beam, he reaches Shadow just as a large piece of rubble falls – making his head spin.

He hears a muttered growl.

"What? Do you see him?"

"Get out."

Robin starts and reels away from the comfort of the thick fur and muscle of Shadow, looking for the source of the voice.

"Robin!"

The boy wonder frantically looks around him before looking up, noticing a ton of debris and materials begin to fall. He panics, and in a split second he's sent flying over a beam – scorching debris raining down around him.

He looks up to find himself protected by Shadow, "Robin."

Eyes widen, shocked. For a moment, the urgency of the situation eludes the Titan's leader. He snaps back into awareness to a bark and a growl.

"Robin! Are you okay?!"

He nods dumbly before starting to scramble to his feet – Shadow backs off of him.

"I know this is weird. But trust me."

"Sh-Shadow?"

"Yes. Now get out."

The surprise gone now, Robin attempts to hold his ground as they maneuver and dodge debris; "No! What the hell is –"

A mad, cackling scream could be heard above the flames, followed by the glint of twin blades as they cut through the flames – catching the boy wonder in the arm, and Shadow on his side.

"There's a large, nuclear storage plant not far from here. You need to go, I'll make sure he doesn't get any closer to it."

"What are you _saying?!"_

Both dodge as the crazy terrorist attempts to catch them off guard again before darting towards the exit.

Robin watches Shadow disappear into the flames.

"SHADOW!"

All of a sudden, a blackness envelops him and the feeling of sinking consumes him. The flames no longer licking at his skin, he panics.

What the hell was going on?!

Within seconds he's feeling a rush of cool, fresh air as he's now looking across a field at a burning complex. He comes to and spins around at the voices he hears behind him –

"Cyborg, Starfire – have you cleared away the waste yet?"

Static could be heard before Cyborg's 'mission voice' blares over the com – "Yea, it's well outta blast radius now. That kook will only take out himself and the rest of that rumble – he won't leave much of a impact."

"Oh friend Raven, is Robin alright?!"

Raven meets his agitated gaze before looking back down at the communicator, "Yea, and I think he's pissed."

Some more static and then Cy's voice sounds again, "Alright, we are 300 feet from your location. We'll fill Robin in, go find BB!"

"Okay."

"What the _hell_ is going on here?!"

His violet-haired friend is about to open her mouth to reply when something grips at his heart – "Shadow?!"

He spins around in a panic and practically flies towards the flames.

"Robin!"

Ignoring their shouts, he hears his pulse pound in time with his frantic strides. His only thought was that his friend was still in there – he could already be gone as far as he knows.

At the thought, he picks up his pace.

"Robin! Slow down!"

"Where are you going?!"

"Are you freaking _mad?! _Get **back here!**"

In a split second, Cyborg, with the help of Starfire, falls from the sky, attempting to pin their leader down before he hurt himself further.

Their leader, of course, dodges the basic attack and continues on, "Robin! Stop! It's too late man! It's gunna blow!"

Right as he shouted that, the final bomb detonates – sending up a mushroom cloud of toxic fumes and scorching debris across the vast fields surrounding them.

Robin is knocked on his back and almost feels like screaming. An overwhelming anger coursing through him. He only realizes something is amiss when he tries to get up.

Raising his hands to the large mass above him, he struggles to sit up – only to shove his face into a large, soft chest above him. He fists his hands tighter into what he knows now is _fur_.

Feeling labored breaths against his ringing ears, he doesn't understand why the feeling of relief hits him like a bus.

"Robin, you're bleeding." A quiet, baritone voice breaths into his hair between pants. Suddenly, he feels the adrenaline quickly leave him before he flops onto his back – the last thing he sees is a blanket of stars and smoke behind bright, golden eyes.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

He trudges along behind the two of the Titans as they enter the common area. Silence permeates the air while the three wait as Raven heals up their leader's wounds in the medical bay. Watching the redhead and the cyborg pointedly ignore and avoid him, Shadow wonders where the green changeling could be – he was one of his favorites.

Watching the other two, he wonders if the thought of the changeling's absence has crossed their minds yet – though that was probably his fault.

A frustrated growl grabs his attention, "Goddammit! What the hell _happened_ over there?!"

"I am unsure, friend Cyborg. But whatever it was, we should know when Robin is allowed out of the medicine room."

"Bombs. In three different locations – Robin was right, the past supposedly un-related incidents _did_ end up escalating – "

"But can we be sure that there _is_ a connection?" Heads in the room swivel to the open door, revealing the half demon and their leader, who was no longer in uniform and had a bandage wrapped around his neck and right arm.

"Robin! You are okay!" Starfire looks relieved as she floats happily over to him and pulls him to her in a tentative embrace.

As the friends continue to talk, Shadow slowly backs away – choosing to stay as inconspicuous as possible. They may want answers, and he didn't exactly have many to give his new friends. While Robin recounts what happens, he can't help but notice him glancing around the room throughout his recount; the large canine wanted nothing more than to check that Robin was healing properly with his own eyes. At least from here, the leader didn't appear too shaken by the events.

"- But what I don't understand is how you all got there…"

Raven, Cyborg and Starfire stare at their leader wearily, "We got a distress call from your communicator."

Robin's brow furrows, "I did not…" his expression turns to one of understanding when his eyes meet calm, golden ones from across the room.

"I need to go find Beast Boy, now that you are alright –" Raven fills in monotonously, before phasing out of the room.

A silence settles over the room again.

"So you got a call from my com?"

"Yea, from Shadow."

"He growled, and we heard the echoes of one nasty laugh – we knew you were in trouble if he had your communicator somehow."

"So we rushed over there."

"And where's Beast Boy?"

"He didn't rendezvous with us, so we assumed he was running late or was caught up."

Robin was about to interrupt, but Cyborg beat him to it, "They split up in their search for survivors."

"I see…" the leader mutters, crossing his arms.

"But the guy's dead, so I guess we can take solace in that." Cy added with a growl.

"Not quite."

Everyone's heads snap toward the new voice. There's a bit of relief in Robin's face when Shadow confidently strides towards the center of the space the Titans occupied.

Cyborg and Starfire look aghast at the midnight dire wolf – Shadow watches as Robin's face can't seem to decide on thankful, suspicious, surprise or apprehension.

"You can _talk?!_" Cyborg screeches in a very un-manly like way.

"It would appear so." The canine drawls, chancing a glance at the robot before moving his gaze to Starfire and then back to Robin. Cyborg's surprise quickly dispels as he scoffs, "Great. Another drawling comedian."

Robin was more concerned with Shadow's news, so he presses, "What do you mean 'not exactly'?"

"Robin," Shadow strides up to stand confidently in front of the Titan's leader and looks up at him with a slight tilt to his head, "This may sound… odd… but it seemed that the man was possessed…"

Cyborg stomps forward, gesturing heatedly, "Wdo you _mean_ by _possessed._ How would _you_ know?!"

Shadow hesitates, and before he can answer, a bleeping noise echoes through the room and Cyborg picks up his communicator.

Raven appears on the screen, looking worried.

"Hey Rae, did ya find BB?"

"I… no…" She holds up a communicator to the screen to show her friends. Starefire gasps, Robin furrows his brow and Cyborg looks like he's about to punch something. "I just found this in the smoldering rubble. No one around here seems to have much to say – I doubt he's gotten far."

Robin is about to make a plan to search for their green friend when they hear a gruff voice joining the background audio on Cyborg's comlink with Raven.

"You lookin' for that green man?" they see an irritated look overcome Raven's usually monotonous face before she answers quietly, "Yes. Beast Boy."

"Ah, well bugger got burned pretty bad. They took 'im to the hospital. You'll prolly find 'em there."

All the Titans were quiet, Raven stutters out a response and then turns back to the call. "I will go find him and bring him home. See you soon."

"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you, Raven?" Robin adds on hurriedly, before she can close the channel.

"Positive. I'm just going to find him and phase him to the tower. I don't trust them to heal him properly."

"Gotcha Rae. As long as you're sure. Keep us updated."

"Okay." With that Raven promptly hung up, leaving the rest of the team in slight distress.

A long silence went uninterrupted until Robin straightens up and strides in the direction of his quarters, "I will be doing a report on the past 5 hours. We will meet as soon as Beast Boy returns and is well."

"Gotcha boss."

"Ensure to get some rest, friend Robin."

Robin just looks back and nods at Starfire before shooting a communicable glance at his canine companion before resuming his trek to his war room.

Shadow is not far behind him, wondering if he should be dreading the encounter he and his leader were soon to have.

* * *

Her heart hammers in her chest as she charges determinedly through the doors of the hospital, frantically searching for Beast Boy's aura. She starts to panic and surprised shouts emit from the hallway as lights flicker and crack.

Taking a deep breath, she tries to calm herself. A nurse in black scrubs approaches her tentatively.

"Excuse me… you are Raven, of the Titans… yes?"

Raven struggles not to snap irritably at the girl, but struggles, "Yes. Obviously," she pauses before pinning the nurse like prey with her sharp, violet eyes.

"Where's my friend."

"Beast Boy right? He's in exam room 131. He went into cardiac arrest awhile ago, he's just been stabilized."

Words and air are caught in Raven's throat.

"But the boy he saved is alive, barely. Lost his leg, the poor thing."

The nurse continued on but the half demon was not paying any attention, she retreated briefly into her own mind where there was a cacophony of frantic emotions. She struggles to breathe, the medical professional in front of her none the wiser to her inner turmoil.

"If you want to go check on your friend, you should be able to now – but we advise against removing him."

"Where you even going to call us?"

The nurse seems to flounder at her question for a second, hesitating as she realizes that she's alone with the unstable empath in the flickering, sterile hallway.

"W-well I had figured the doctor or administration would do that, but apparently someone advised that it'd be best to keep him stable until the Titans were through with their work…"

She trails off at the look on Raven's face before taking a breath and steeling herself.

"What I don't understand is why he was separated. Left alone to burn."

Raven is gob-smacked, mouth slightly agape, staring with widened eyes at the accusing nurse.

"Maybe you should care a little more about your friends. It's rumored that you two don't get along, but to leave him behind to die… that's just cruel."

After saying her peace, she turns on her heel and makes her way down the hall and into the elevator. Her light brown ponytail swaying behind her, each step was like a slap in the face to the empath as she struggles with her composure.

Once the girl was out of sight, Raven phases out of the hallway.

* * *

The silence was tense in the war room, where Robin was furiously typing away messages to his former mentor. Shadow couldn't bring himself to say or do anything other than remain silent.

The Boy Wonder himself felt like he was completely lost. The past hours having been a relatively new experience for him, and he couldn't understand just why he had reacted the way he did.

Was he losing his touch?

Can he still lead the Titans?

Frustration builds within him, and within seconds he snaps to life once he realizes his eyes were getting misty.

"Dammit!"

There's a loud pound on the counter, the force disturbing nearby objects. Robin squeezes his eyes shut, and just focuses on breathing.

He needs to be strong. He's the leader. The safety of the Titans and the town is _his_ responsibility. The sinking feeling that one of his friends was injured… and the feeling that so many had been lost that day ate at him.

The need to talk it out with someone, to confide in someone about his insecurities... it came back with a force after the evening's events.

No matter what the other Titans say, he can't go to them. Even Raven. His authority would be undercut.

The fact that the very _thought_ of this need, this desire, upset him. He shouldn't _need_ help in dealing with things. He should be able to take it all in stride as a leader, and he should be the support for everyone.

Leaders aren't supposed to need support systems.

Bruce had made that perfectly clear.

Batman… normally he would think of going to him. But he couldn't risk losing the respect from his former mentor. He will stick to consulting him on criminal matters – not feelings.

"Robin…"

The soft, careful voice enables Robin to take a breath.

Now the silence is different. Less suffocating.

He takes this chance to just stand there, allowing himself to come off the adrenaline rush that had overtaken him.

Slowly, he lowers himself back into his seat, resolutely resting his gloved hands on the keyboard. The soft jingle of Shadow's collar echoes silently through the dark room, and soon, the canine… whatever… is right beside him.

He feels a light rub, as Shadow passes his furry face over his bare arm. The silky smoothness of the midnight black fur melts whatever obstruction Robin was building against his companion.

The computer cast a harsh, white light against the pair, as they sat in silence. Not knowing quite what to say, or if anything needed to be said in the first place.

When Robin looks to his side, he sees Shadow looking right back at him. His normally fierce and determined bright, golden gaze was now the soft color of honey. The young man regards his companion, as he takes in the concern and kindness that was so blatantly displayed for him.

It was for him.

Suddenly, Shadow looks down at the floor between his forelegs shyly. Perhaps a bit deflated, as Robin looks at him for a few more moments before rising from his seat.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Loads of feels in this chapter... just one more chapter to go, and then the second part will be up. :]**

**Please read, review, and recommend for anyone who may like this story! :]**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The door to Robin's room closes with a loud _clack_ as he approaches his bed, stripping off his gloves and gear along the way. Bouncing slightly after dropping himself on the bed, he bends over to pull off his steel-toe boots.

Shadow doesn't quite know what to do, or where he now stood with the kid. He could understand him feeling upset, thinking that someone (thing) he thought was his doggy friend was actually an intelligent _talking_…

Well. He was still a dog, regardless of how you'd look at it.

He just hoped Robin didn't consider it a betrayal of trust.

It's part of the reason why he had just remained silent in the first place. It was pure accident when he figured out how to get the dialogue in his head out of his mouth; he had no prior knowledge that he could talk. He thought he was just doomed to be misunderstood for the rest of his presumably short life.

As he watches Robin continue his nightly routine (albeit with a lot less interest than usual) he allows his mind to drift off as he turns away to give the boy privacy. Moving over to the lounge area by Robin's desk and dropping himself on the couch. He huffs and closes his eyes, figuring he won't be allowed the privilege of sleeping at the foot of Robin's bed anymore.

Cause that'd be too awkward, right?

He can remember the exact day he had found out he could speak.

Ironically, it was while Robin was sleeping. The Boy Wonder he connected with was tossing and turning, within the vice grip of a terrible nightmare.

Shadow had really wanted to wake the boy (he knew Robin was like, eighteen, but he couldn't help the thought). Barking was never really something Shadow had felt comfortable with. It didn't seem to come naturally, like growling or scowling did.

Panic had started to seize him when the young man let out a strangled sob. He didn't even think about it when he called out to him.

But he wouldn't tell Robin that… even if he did, the canine was doubtful that the Titan would believe him.

Just in the short time of knowing the leader of the Titans, he's picked up how sensitive the kid was, regardless of what others thought, or what he chose to believe. On a good day, he might trust some people, but even some of his friends… it didn't seem like he could trust them with _everything_. Or rather, he was too afraid to.

So he was confiding in him, a stupid dog who was carefree and trustworthy - because what motivations does a _dog_ have, other than to watch over their pack? He was a living thing to listen and offer companionship. Shadow had recognized that early on, and decided to remain silent after he came about his discovery.

Shadow looks over his shoulder from his spot on the couch to see Robin slide tiredly into his large bed, with his snow-white sheets.

But he didn't miss the dejected look on his face before it disappeared in his pillow.

The lights were off, and the clear night shone into the room, bathing everything in a gentle, ethereal glow.

Shadow's face softens, and the resolve he was building to give the kid some space had crumbled.

He carefully crosses the room, slowing as he approaches the bed. As large as he was, all he needed to do was raise a paw and lift his self up. Robin's shoulders tense when he feels Shadow's weight on the mattress, but otherwise remains motionless and unresponsive as the large canine settles at a close, but respectable distance.

Silence stretches on for a few moments between the two, before a sigh escapes the canine's lips.

"Robin…"

The Boy Wonder shifts under the covers before propping his back up against the wall, regarding his companion with a hesitant stare. It is now, that Shadow realizes the mask is still on, and he can't read his charges' eyes for any clue as to what he was feeling. Trepidation starts to build within his broad chest as he remains still, but lifts himself up a little higher from his lying position - fore-paws resting inches away from Robin's knees when the man pulls himself to sit up straighter.

Silence continues to stretch, everything Shadow thought he was going to say has left him. He snuffs the air for any scent of aggression or malice from his charge - if Robin was truly going to hate him, he would have little to say that would change his mind... but what he smelled was a hint of fear and dejection... but he could also read anger and hurt.

He had no idea how to fix it, so he relies on his instincts, as he had done the moment he came into himself less than a year ago.

Shadow hesitates, before lowering his head and ears, a sign of submission and apology. He holds Robin's gaze until his chin is resting softly on the mattress by his knee.

Robin watches the canine close his eyes and practically melt into the comforter draped around his torso.

"I'm still _me_."

His gaze softens, looking down at the dog and now he just feels sad. Moments pass as he tries to find words for what he's thinking and feeling. It isn't an easy task, and he's beyond exhausted.

"What do you mean?" he croaks out, all traces of anxiety melts off him as he longs to reach out to Shadow and run his bare hands through that thick, black fur. The idea that his newest companion was hurting as much as he was didn't sit well with him.

Shadow grunts as he raises himself up to a crouch, pulling himself forward while simultaneously using his right foreleg to pull at the tangle of sheets around his charge, lowering Robin to his back. Robin's eyes are wide in surprise as the canine comes to loom over him, locking his gaze on to Robin's masked stare with purpose and determination.

"I have not changed, just because now I can talk with you." At seeing the wide-eyed stare Robin was giving him still, he softens his tone and drops his large ears back, "Nothing has to change."

Shadow blinks before moves his eyes out the window and away from Robin's shocked face. Any forceful, accusatory remarks he was considering went out the window with Shadow's attention.

Regardless, silence again stretches between the two as they patiently wait for each other to gather their thoughts. Robin's jumbled out of confusion and anxiety and Shadow's lost.

"S-so... you could talk the whole time?" Robin forces out, internally berating himself for feeling off-kilter. He didn't like the other's domineering position above him, but couldn't find it in himself to shove the beast off of him.

Shadow pulls his eyes away from the window and settles them back on Robin's face, "No… at least I didn't know I could. I only found out a few weeks ago by accident... I guess... but I thought I may have imagined it."

He looks about to ask how, but Shadow interrupts him, "I didn't… _say_ anything, because I didn't want things to change. But it just... came out again at that warehouse. I could sense the danger, and your trepidation... and then something came over me, I couldn't risk you getting hurt. And I wouldn't let you die." Robin was still meeting his hard, golden eyes, but he could no longer attempt to read what the masked man was thinking and, nervous and shy, Shadow rips his gaze from Robin's masked face and starts to pull back a little, and moves to the side - no longer trapping the Titan.

No longer paralyzed, his thoughts became clearer, "You said earlier that something was familiar there."

"Yes. I felt like I had a good idea of the events that were to transpire, but didn't have any reason as to _why_ I had that feeling, or that knowledge." He raises his bright, golden eyes to carefully watch his leader's reaction. Robin watches him too, and his brow furrows a bit in contemplation, "Could it be - "

"A scent I learned before I met you? Probably, but I don't actually remember anything before that time."

Now Robin pulls himself up into a full sitting position and leans to the side over Shadow, to look into the face that the canine turned away from him, "Shadow..."

"I don't remember anything before over a year ago."

Robin purses his lips, fighting the urge to cover his companion with an embrace, as he was slowly becoming accustomed to doing whenever he'd hear him whimper and kick in his sleep. It was weird to see and hear his friend talk, but that same whine and whimper still underlined his voice when he spoke now.

"I don't know how I got here, I don't remember being anything different than how I am now. But at that warehouse I had an odd sense of dejavu. The scent of the chemicals in the air was familiar, and the situation felt familiar... but I don't know _why._"

"It doesn't matter."

Shadow snaps his surprised gaze back up to Robin's face, which was surprisingly right above him. He was even more surprised that there was a small, kind smile on his charges' face.

"You're still you."

Robin pulls away slightly, propping himself up on one elbow as he runs his bare fingers through the fur atop his head, and runs those long, pale fingers through the softer, down fur behind his large ears.

Murmuring, he continues, "We will figure it out."

Shadow's lips twitch up into a small smile and then moves closer, snuffling into Robin's face, delighting in the embarrassed flush on his cheeks when he starts to speak into the crook of his neck where Robin accidentally trapped his muzzle to stop the canine's tickling breath. "How about you. Are you going to be okay?"

Robin stiffens, as if just remembering everything else, so Shadow pulls back and readjusts his large body so he was now on his stomach and resting his chin on his crossed paws, golden eyes still watching the other carefully.

"I'm fine... considering." He heaves a heavy sigh, and Shadow looks ready to protest out of concern, but Robin just shakes his head and turns away before he talks. Shadow decides to allow it. "Beast Boy is injured, several buildings destroyed a many lives lost... but it could have been worse. Much worse, but it wasn't what I was ready for tonight. That's all."

Silence stretches. Shadow could tell Robin needed his space, so instead of pressing further, he leans forward to snuffle at the back of his ear before rising to move to the foot of the bed, nearly laying across the Boy Wonder's feet.

If there were any nightmares to be had that night, he'd know, and he would stop them. With that thought in their minds, the two fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

She could feel his aura leaking through the door and into her covered back. The empath was frantic to have some meta-physical reassurance that her friend was still alive – the moment she got close enough she had to stop and breathe.

Raven bites her lip hard and screws her eyes and fists shut, preparing herself for the worst as well as berating herself on losing her composure.

They have had close calls in the past. Beast Boy had been injured in the past – the prospect that any one of her friends could die was imminent, with their line of work.

However, since receiving the news of his whereabouts, Raven can't stop herself from desperately chanting the same mantra in her head. Over and over again.

_"Not him… please… not Beast Boy."_

Phasing through the two-inch metal barrier into the sterile hospital room seemed to feel like a catalyst for the empathic heroine. She knew he was alive – she could feel his energy (though muted from the drugs) through the thick door – but she was afraid to see what he'd look like.

_"Screw it."_

A calming breath, and Raven sinks through the floor, and reappears with her back to the bed.

She can't fight against the chill that runs down her spine. The window is open, and as she turns she sees a sight she was not prepared for –

The changeling's face, perfectly relaxed and serene; emerald skin luminous under the light of the full moon.

All the voices in her head, and the tension in her body fades; she feels exhausted, and is confused as well as awed at the quiet tears that well in her eyes and drop onto her friend's face beneath her.

Reaching out a tentative, shaking hand, Raven brushes his scratched cheek lightly and bites her lip to stop the smile when his head unconsciously follows.

Reassured, the empath closes her eyes; her thin, pale fingers still against the changeling's face as she mutters her mantra to compose herself. In moments, she finds her composure again, and begins to pull healing hands across his burnt, wounded body almost reverently.

She knew she was supposed to take him straight to the tower. She could teleport, and not disturbs him in the slightest.

But she was selfish.

No one but her will ever touch him this way.

And she doesn't understand why that means so much to her.

* * *

"Haven't heard back from Rae yet. Do you think she's alright? You think BB's okay?" Cyborg rants nervously, trying his best not to let his voice get away from him.

"Sparky, I'm sure he's just fine. Rae-Rae probably didn't wanna move him – "

"Then that means it's _bad!_" If Cyborg had hair, his girlfriend Bee imagines he'd probably be yanking it out in chunks right now.

"I should just go. Go see for myself." Determined, Cy stomps towards the elevator but is halted by a delicate hand to his broad-plated chest.

"Cy." Bee pins him with a hard stare. Tough love was the basis of their relationship, and Bee was the best at keeping to her guns when Cy started to go "off the rails" with his emotions.

Gentler, when she has his sole attention, she continues. "Look, hon. Raven knows what's she's doing. You gotta trust her. If she hasn't contacted us yet, it's probably because she needs the focus – "

The cyborg furrows his brows and looks down at the hand on his chest and covering it with his own large, metallic one. A heavy sigh, and he ducts he head to rest upon hers. The smell of cocoa butter wafting into his computerized senses as he closes his eyes.

"Yea… you're right. Something's been up with BB lately," he pauses to gauge his bumble bee's response – a nod. "Just the thought of him suddenly…" a swallow, "without resolving what's been eating at him lately… the thought of him leaving so… depressed. So un-BB like…"

He pauses. Forgetting what he was trying to get at. His miss-matched gaze rises to meet Bee's dark, inquiring black ones and smiles, "Guess it doesn't matter. We still have time, but I won't forget this close call."

She spares him a smile before meeting him half-way for a gentle kiss.

* * *

"I am very glad to hear that friend Beast Boy is doing okay and will be coming home soon… but friend Raven… are _you _okay? I know that the healing powers of yours take much energy of you, and rest is required. Do you not need my assistance?"

He watches as his girlfriend floats back and forth across her room, speaking to the undoubtedly exhausted empathic team member on the other end of the cellphone.

"If you are certain, I will not press you further. See you tomorrow, friend Raven. Give friend Beast Boy a hug from me."

An assumed affirmative was her reply before the emerald-eyed redhead cuts the com-link, and lowers herself into a crisscross position beside X on the large, round bed.

He watches her carefully as she sighs and leans heavily on him. Combing his un-gloved hands through her silky strands, he hums her favorite song from earth as she allows herself to mope and to feel 'the sadness' she often does not permit herself to express in the company of others…

Glancing over to his right he sees Silkie worming his way up to the bed, making his way over to his mommy. Fondly, he rolls his eyes and nuzzles Starfire's forehead, planting a soft kiss and smiles as Silkie squeezes onto his lap.

Okay… so him _and_ Silkie are allowed to see the princess like this –

He still feels pretty darn important.

* * *

**Author's note:**

**Sorry you guys. Not much development here, but I needed to edit and change some scenes. It got copied and pasted wrong the first time, and a lot was missing in the original chapter. I don't have time to redo the other chapters (because some scenes are missing from there too) but this will have to do because I really want to continue on. The next few chapters will mostly be BBxRaven. So be prepared. ^^.**

**Sincerely,**

**Kallen**


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